


THE CHEAT CODE III: My Heart's a Battleground

by FairyGodmoose



Series: The Cheat Code [3]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Gen, game
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2006-05-04
Updated: 2015-03-10
Packaged: 2018-03-14 10:45:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 39,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3407717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FairyGodmoose/pseuds/FairyGodmoose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The time has come for the Juu Senshi to return to the game universe, and go through Kingdom Hearts II. Everything seems fine at first, but what effects will the Senshi's choices in their previous adventures have on the plot?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Returning to the Game

**Author's Note:**

> I originally published this series on Fanfiction.net in 2006, when I was twelve years old. Thanks to a fit of nostalgia, I decided to repost it on AO3. Reviews and critique are always welcome, just know that you're lobbying any suggestions a decade after the fact.
> 
> EDIT 3/10/15: Starting with chapter 9, everything is brand new. Critique away.

Roxas stood outside the Old Mansion's gate, gazing at the enormous, tan building. "Y'know something…" A voice spoke up, causing him to jump a little. He looked beside him to see Pence standing there. "…we were gonna check the mansion out tomorrow. It IS the most suspicious place."

"Right…" Roxas nodded, and resumed staring at the mansion.

Pence nodded. "Even Seifer's gang was gonna help out!" he continued.

Roxas raised an eyebrow and turned towards his friend again. "Seifer?" he repeated in disbelief.

"Yeah, Hayner asked him to."

"Huh." The blonde boy looked back at the mansion. "So, what're we looking for, anyway?"

Pence pointed to a pair of large, pink curtains hanging in one of the windows. "They say a girl appears at the second-floor window, even though no one's lived there for years."

"Oh." Roxas glanced up at the window. The curtain flapped a little. "Huh?" A white light filled the area. When it cleared, he saw that he was now in a small, white room, with colored drawings pasted on the wall. He looked down, and noticed that his body was missing, as if he was simply a spirit.

 _Roxas?_  a girl's voice called.

_Naminé?_

Spirit-Roxas looked around the room again. His eyes settled on a drawing of two cloaked people. One had spiky, red hair, and the second strongly reminded him of himself.  _Is that…me? And Axel's here too!_

_Well, you ARE best friends…_

_Very funny._

Naminé's voice paused for a moment.  _Don't you want to know the truth? About who you really are?_

_No one knows me better than me._

She laughed.  _Of course._

 _But…I don't get what's been happening lately._  Finally, Roxas glanced at a very crowded picture. There had to have been at least ten people drawn there. Two of them stood in the front, a boy with brown spikes, and a girl with black hair and glasses.  _Naminé, who are those people? And why are those two in front, when everyone else is on the sides?_  He squinted a bit.  _And is that Axel near the back?_

_Those are the Juu Senshi. Everyone in the group is a very powerful warrior; they all have different skills._

_Really? They should come and sign up for the Struggle, then! They'd clean everyone in no time! Anyway, who are those two? Are they the leaders, or something?_

_I guess you could say that. The boy is Sora. The girl is Emma. Sora is the Keyblade Master, so he was the ringleader for a while. Emma can control the game, so she's important too._

_The game? What game?_

_The entire universe is actually a game, Roxas. It's called Kingdom Hearts. We are all characters in that game. Emma can control what happens._

_You expect me to believe that?_

_Not really, but it's true._

_Fine, I'll play along. What's Axel doing there?_

_He helped them for a little while._

_He HELPED them? Why? Isn't he a bad guy?_

_Not quite. He works for both sides. I thought that Emma might have been able to keep him on the Senshi's side, but he's gone back to Organization XIII._

_This is all really confusing…what's with that picture of Sora and me together?_

_About three weeks ago, Sora lost half of himself, in a way. And…in order for Sora to become completely whole again…he needs you._

_Me? What for?_

_You hold half of what he is. He needs you, Roxas._

Suddenly, Roxas materialized in a chair, along with Naminé. "How am I supposed to find him?" he queried. "Even if he does need me as much as you say, I haven't got a clue where he is!"

Naminé pressed her hands together. "You must travel to Hollow Bastion. The Juu Senshi has to take care of some business first, but they'll be there soon."

"Hollow Bastion? Where's that?"

"It's another world. There are many different worlds; you've only seen this one," Naminé explained. "Hollow Bastion isn't too far away."

Roxas scratched his head. "Okay, this is really making my head hurt…how am I even supposed get there? I'll need to hitch a ride with someone…"

The Nobody smiled warmly, and extended her hand towards the windows. "Already taken care of! You may come in now, Aldwyndain!"

A gust blew through the curtains, and materialized near Roxas and Naminé. It formed into a tall man, wearing a blue-and-gold uniform that looked as if it was stolen from one of Balamb Garden's SeeDs in Final Fantasy VIII. He threw his long, dark purple braid over his shoulder. "My Gummi ship is docked in the real Twilight Town, Naminé. Are you ready?" he asked Roxas.

"But…what about Hayner? And Pence? And Olette?"

Aldwyndain cast Naminé an uneasy glance. "I'll explain once we're both aboard the Yojimbo."

… … …

"A fake Twilight Town? But why would this DiZ guy do that?" Roxas yelled as he sat in Aldwyndain's brightly-colored ship.

Aldwyndain twitched from the volume of Roxas's voice. "To hide you from the Organization," he explained while blowing up an enemy vessel. "He duplicated the real Twilight Town, including the real Hayner, Pence, and Olette."

Roxas sighed heavily. "Oh…so I don't really have any friends? Just copied data?"

As they flew through the glowing keyhole, Aldwyndain looked sadly back Roxas. "Sorry, but that's reality. I'm sure you'll be friends with Sora, though; after all, you two are essentially the same person. Why wouldn't you like each other?"

"Can you tell me about him? About Sora?"

Aldwyndain nodded. "Sure. Let's see…he's strong…he's determined…oh, and he cares for his friends more than anything else."

… … …

"EMMA, I HATE YOU!" Sora wailed. He and the other Senshi were in the kitchen of Emma, Dia, and Jake's house. "Why'd you have to take it?"

Emma put her hands defensively in the air. "You left the table! I thought you were done eating! Besides, you're overreacting a whole lot."

Sora sat back down in his seat and crossed his arms. "But I was hungry! That was the last muffin! Can't Alissa make some more?"

Alissa threateningly waved a wooden spoon at him. "You'd better be thankful that I'm allowing you six to be in here," she told him. "Not only is it more mouths to feed, it's really creepy having THEM here," she added, pointing at Donald and Goofy.

Bernie looked at her watch, then stood up. "It's time to go, guys. Thank you for breakfast, Mrs. Quinn!"

"You're welcome, Bernie." Alissa smiled. "Be careful when you're in King of Hearts, you guys!"

Jake giggled and wiped his mouth. "Kingdom Hearts, Alissa."

"Same difference. Have fun!"

Riku nodded. "Yeah, we'll have loads of fun trying not to get hacked into pieces by the Heartless while trying to knock out some cloaked morons," he said sarcastically.

"That's the spirit!" The Senshi laughed as they trooped downstairs into the Quinns' basement.

… … …

"Yay!" Jake squealed. He ran through the gate, and into the Usual Spot. "Wow, this place is cool!"

Hayner looked up, clearly irritated. "What do you want?" he demanded.

"Just looking around," Kairi responded quickly. "We wanted to see what was back here."

"Well, now you know." Hayner gestured to the space around him. "This is OUR spot."

Pence stepped forward. "Uh…I'm Pence."

"I'm Hayner," the blonde boy grumbled.

Olette curtsied a bit. "My name's Olette!"

"Nice to meet you guys." Emma grinned. "I'm Emma. This is Sora, Donald, Goofy, Dia, Jake, Riku, Kairi, and Bernie.

"We're the Juu Senshi!" Jake added.

Pence and Olette glanced at each other. "Someone's looking for you guys." Pence told them.

"Lemme guess." Dia took off her sunglasses. "Short? Black cloak? Disproportionate, round ears?"

Olette nodded. "That's him. He's waiting for you at the station!

"Thanks!" The Senshi all crowded through the exit, shoving the large, red curtain out of their way. Once they neared Station Heights, Emma stopped suddenly. "Wait a minute…what's Mickey doing here? He should be back at Disney Castle!"

Dia shrugged. "I guess he still felt the need to come back here."

The clocktower chimed loudly as the Senshi approached it. "Take out your weapons, guys," Bernie warned.

The game characters looked confused, but summoned out their weapons. Goofy scratched his head with his free hand. "Why do we need to-" Before he could finish, several Dusk Nobodies appeared, trapping them in a circle. "Oh. That's why."

Emma leapt up, trying to evade one of the Dusks' swipe. "Don't pull out the big guns! Just bash them!" She brought the Hikari Sword down on the Dusk's head.

"What happened to my old keychains?" Sora asked, hitting one Dusk with the Kingdom Key. "I just have this weak one!"

Dia rapidly swung at more Dusks with the Shihaii Wand. "It's the best you'll get for a while, Sora."

The Senshi furiously attacked the Dusks for a few minutes; whenever they destroyed one, more kept appearing. "This is really ticking me off," Riku grunted, falling on his knees.

Jake also slumped down. "Can we have a break now?"

Emma looked up and sighed with relief. "Yes, Jake. We can have a break now."

A tiny, black-shrouded figure leapt down from the clocktower, and batted the rest of the Dusks away like flies with a golden Keyblade. Once they were all gone, he spoke. "You gotta board the train and leave right away!"

The real-worlders nodded. "We understand, Your Majesty," Emma agreed.

Mickey laughed sheepishly. "I was going to give you some munny for the ride…but since the game's changed, I don't have the bag. And even if I did…it'd only be enough for three of you."

Sora fished some munny out of his pockets. "I still have some."

"I kept some too," Emma announced.

Jake and Dia held up two small, white pouches. "We have enough for ourselves," Dia said.

"I've got some too," Donald spoke up.

"Gawrsh, I guess this is enough!"

Mickey turned to Riku, Kairi, and Bernie. "Do you three have at least 600 munny each?"

They glanced nervously at each other. "Um…no…" Kairi admitted.

Bernie smiled nervously at the king. "We can do some odd jobs for an hour or so. We'll have enough money for our own tickets soon enough."

"You won't have enough time to get out of here in time!" Mickey insisted. "We'll just have to find another way!"

"Excuse me…can we help?" The Senshi and Mickey turned around to see Hayner, Pence, and Olette grouped by the door to the Central Station. Olette extended her hand, which was clutching an orange bag with a leaf design embroidered on. "I think you need this more than we do."

Riku waved his hands back and forth. "No, it's your munny! We couldn't take it!"

Hayner put his hands on his hips. "We were supposed go to the beach, but I guess we'd better work on our report instead. Take the munny."

Bernie cautiously took it, peeked inside, and gasped. "This is way more than enough! All we need is 2700!"

Pence grinned. "Keep it. But when you come back, just remember that you owe us!" His smile faded a bit. "You guys…ARE coming back, aren't you…?"

Sora nodded enthusiastically. "Of course we're coming back! It may not be really soon, but we promise we'll come back."

Kairi also nodded. "And thanks for the munny! Wasn't that nice of them, Your Majesty?" There was no answer. "Your Majesty?" She turned back around, but nobody was there. "Where'd he go?"

"He had more important business to attend to," Emma explained.

"What business?"

"I haven't got a clue."

Sora waved as he and the Senshi walked over to the set of doors. "We'll see you some other time!"

Hayner, Pence, and Olette waved in return. "You bet!" Hayner called.

"Y'know, I like those guys," Sora decided as he pushed open a door. Without warning, a tear fell down his face. He looked over at Emma. "Those were his friends, weren't they? My Nobody's?"

Emma smiled sympathetically at him. "Yeah."

Sora forced himself to laugh a little. "It's funny. I barely know them…but my heart does. And now I'm crying." He hurriedly wiped his cheek.

"Don't worry, we'll see them again pretty soon," Emma assured him.

"Good."

… … …

DiZ sat in front of his computer, typing various things in. He looked over his shoulder, still pressing buttons. "You're not fooling anyone, Aldwyndain, I know you're there."

Aldwyndain materialized by his chair, looking exasperated. "I know you're a genius, Ansem, but how could you possibly know I was there?"

"I didn't. I smelled the salt from inside your box," DiZ chuckled. "If you want to be so secretive, hide it better."

"Yeah, that's right, make fun of the guy who's helping you exact your revenge." Aldwyndain handed him a white, cardboard package. "Here's your precious ice cream. Do you want the status report, or what?"

DiZ stopped typing and folded his hands, but didn't turn around. "I would be most appreciative."

Aldwyndain leaned against the metal wall. "Roxas seems pretty overwhelmed by all of this information, but he's willing enough to help the Juu Senshi out. Those siblings and the cross-dresser are watching him right now, just in case he changes his mind."

"I see. And the little boy?"

"Inside, just like you instructed."

DiZ nodded. "Good. We can't afford to lose him to the darkness. If Maleficent comes, that would be inevitable."

"You underestimate him." Aldwyndain stretched his arms. "Want me to check on the Senshi now?"

"Ah, you must work a bit harder to remain secretive."

Aldwyndain threw his arms in the air. "What? What is it now?"

Finally, DiZ turned around. "I know you simply want to see Emma." Aldwyndain drooped a little. "You will see her soon. Do not get hasty."

"Fine," Aldwyndain mumbled.

… … …

"Well, this is certainly trippy," Dia commented. She and the other Senshi were standing outside of the Tower. "I mean, it was weird enough in the game, but when you're actually there…" She looked over the cliff at the orange substance. "It's either lava or clouds, and I'm not gonna figure out firsthand which one it is."

Emma laughed. "You won't fall off, Dia, if you just stay away from it."

Dia edged away from the orange substance, then squinted at the Tower's door. An obese man with twitching, cat-like ears had his face pressed to its crack. "There he is. Right on time."

"Who's that with Pete, Sis?" Jake stood on tiptoe to get a clearer view of a woman sitting at his feet, looking bored out of her mind. She was wearing all-black garments, and her mouth was covered by a silk scarf. "I don't recognize her!"

The Senshi walked closer to Pete and the woman. "What're you doing?" Kairi asked.

Pete made a shushing movement with his hand. "Shut up! Can't you see I'm busy?"

"With what?" Goofy asked.

"He wants to turn the guy who owns this place into a Heartless," Dia explained. "Master Yen Sid."

The real-worlders laughed a little as Donald and Goofy gawked at Dia, then at Pete. "You can't do that to him!" Donald yelled. "He's way too strong for a fatso like you to take his heart! If you tried to go up against him, he'd turn you into a pile of-"

"Shut up, you ragoverths," the woman ordered angrily. "I'm already in a bad mood, since I have to work with this fattycapped tardmuffin here; mess with our job, and you're tanwahsya."

Donald raised an eyebrow. "Ragoverths?"

Emma's eyes widened, and she pointed at the woman's head. Two rabbit ears sprouted out of her pastel lavender hair. "You're Etoile, aren't you?"

"What? How do you idiopaths know my name?"

"We're friends with Lyze Rune," Emma explained, glaring at her. "And we're not going to let you take Master Yen Sid."

Etoile immediately stood up. "Turn around, Pete! I think a fight's in order."

Pete kept his eye in the door's crack. "Not right now!"

"Move it, you cakehead!"

"But I need to-"

"NOW!"

"Fine…" Pete lumbered around, then looked at Donald and Goofy in surprise. "You!"

"You!" Donald yelled back.

Sora, Riku, and Kairi were obviously confused. "Who's he?" Sora wondered.

"Some weirdo who knew King Mickey and got banished," Emma told him. "You'll find out more later. Right now, we need to fight some Heartless."

The Juu Senshi took out their weapons. Etoile clicked her tongue. "Now, now, don't make it harder for us to hejob you kiddies."

Bernie narrowed her eyes. "Shut up and fight, you valley girl!"

Etoile smirked and crossed her hands at the wrist; Pete did the same. "Shadows!" Etoile yelled.

"You'll have to do better than that!" Emma announced as she and the other Senshi wiped out the Heartless in a few slashes.

Pete grunted. "So what if you did away with a few measly Shadows? My dear friend Maleficent is-"

"Toast," Sora filled in.

"What?" Pete's kitty-ears were pressed down against his head as he stared at the Keyblade Master in shock. "What're you talking about?"

Riku snorted. "We killed her about a month ago."

"ARGH!" Pete stomped around angrily as Etoile looked on with mild interest. "How could some pipsqueaks like you get rid of someone like Maleficent?" When nobody answered, save for identical grins from the children and teenagers, Pete grunted again and turned to the viera. "We're going to Hollow Bastion so we can visit Maleficent!"

"She's dead, isn't she?"

"Naw, these guys are bluffin', and I'll prove it!"

Etoile shrugged. "Whatever floats your boat, tardmuffin," she replied indifferently. She glanced at the Senshi. "I'll see you ragoverths later." She and Pete disappeared.

Dia scratched her head. "Other than the fact that we're here, and that Riku and Kairi are here, and that Etoile's here, the game seems pretty much the same," she commented. "It seems like what we did two years ago didn't really make a difference."

"Maybe we're not far enough for things to be taking their toll," Emma hypothesized. "What we did will probably have big consequences when the plot really kicks up. Y'know, after the invasion of Hollow Bastion."

"Emma's probably right," Bernie agreed. "Let's go see Master Yen Sid now."

… … …

"And I thought that part was annoying in the game!" Jake whined as the Senshi approached Yen Sid's door. "Stupid Nobodies…stupid Heartless…"

Sora grabbed the doorknob and wrenched the door open. "Excuse us? Anyone home?"

"You may enter!" a booming voice confirmed.

Donald and Goofy hurried in first, saluting the old man who was sitting at a desk. "Master Yen Sid!" they greeted in unison.

The real-worlders also saluted him, while Riku and Kairi awkwardly bowed. Sora just said casually, "Hey, there!" The others glared at him. "What?"

Yen Sid rose, his blue robes brushing against the floor. "You already know about the Nobodies, I presume?" The Senshi nodded. "Then I shall skip that segment. The more pressing matter is the changes in the game's storyline."

"Here we go," Dia murmured through the side of her mouth to Emma.

"First, Organization XIII. Xemnas has found a new recruit for the Organization; his name is Lotrayx. His powers are not yet known."

"Whose Nobody is he?" Riku inquired. "Do we know him?"

The sorcerer waiting for a short period before answering, as if he was debating whether or not to tell them. "The name of his Other is…Taylor Quinn."

Dia and Jake exchanged quick glances. "Our dad? We have to fight our dad's Nobody now?" Jake repeated.

"Wouldn't that be, like, destroying him in effigy or something?"

Yen Sid shook his head. "Lotrayx is simply the heart-deprived husk that was left behind when your father was corrupted by Guardian. You two know that, do you not?" Dia and Jake nodded. "Good. Next, there are two things that you nine deserve to know. The first is not my business to impart to you, so he whom it concerns shall speak of it."

Haiiro appeared next to Yen Sid in a flash of white. "Thank you. Do you know what I am going to say, real-worlders?"

Emma thought for a while, then raised a finger. "Oh, yeah! Is it about how you were created? You can't be Ansem's Nobody if you look like Xehanort!"

"Correct. I was created by Organization XIII, mere days after they were formed, mere days after their Others had succumbed to the darkness. They already knew what would happen if one was injected with darkness, yet they wished to know what would happen if one was injected with light. Vexen replicated Xemnas, and had me injected. I left them soon afterwards, and chose instead to monitor what Xehanort's Heartless, the man you thought was Ansem, when I heard of his plan to bring a real-worlder into the game."

Dia whistled. "So that's why. Makes enough sense…"

"What's the second thing, Master Yen Sid?" Kairi asked.

Both Yen Sid and Haiiro held their breaths momentarily. "Emma…" Haiiro said slowly. "…there is another reason why you were chosen to go inside Kingdom Hearts. We felt…you belonged there."

Emma grinned. "I was obsessed with it, wasn't I? I really did feel like I belonged there."

"It was more than your love for the game," Haiiro went on. "You see…your father…he…well, he…he was actually from Hollow Bastion."

There was a popping sound that followed Haiiro's words; the Senshi's jaws all dropped at the same time. Emma shook her head wildly. "That's impossible! If he was from Hollow Bastion, I would have seen him in the Farplane! You can see the image of people from the game who've died there!"

"That is true."

"Then why didn't I see him?" Emma demanded.

Haiiro sighed. "Your father…is alive."

Emma did not vocally respond. She did, however, faint.

… … …

"Emma! Emma, wake up!"

 _Huh?_  Emma sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes. The Senshi were crowded around her. "What happened?"

Donald sighed. "You fell over after Haiiro told you that your dad was still alive." Emma turned pale. "Oh, no! Don't you dare do that again!"

Haiiro tried to smile at her. "I am not sure of his location, unfortunately. Perhaps you will find him on your journey?"

A bit of color returned to Emma's face. "Hopefully…how long was I out?"

"Several minutes, I guess," Sora decided. Emma noticed that he was already wearing his new KH2 clothes, as were Riku and Kairi. "We were really worried about you."

"I'm fine," she dismissed. She stood up. "But I want to go tell my mom."

Yen Sid nodded. "You may go; we will wait."

Dia and Jake scrambled over to the green flames. "We should all go tell Alissa," Dia suggested. "Dad might go postal when he finds out that his new wife's old husband is alive." Jake giggled. The three of them stepped onto the save point. Nothing happened. "Hey? What's going on?"

"Maybe there's a weight limit now?" Jake stepped off. Nothing happened. "What's going on, Sis?"

Emma groaned and plopped back down on the ground. "We can't go back to the real world!"

There was resounding silence as Emma, Dia, Jake, and Bernie gazed depressingly at the save point. Finally, Sora asked, "Does this mean I can't have another muffin later?" Everyone else glared at him. "What?"


	2. The Shinkatei

"How're we supposed to leave the game if the save point isn't working?" Jake cried.

Dia threw her arms into the air and groaned loudly. "Simple! We're not supposed to leave! Hey, Sora?" Sora turned around. "How do you contact us when we're in the real world?"

Sora looked at her as if she were stupid. "Like this, of course!" He held out the Kingdom Key, and an image of a Gameboy SP appeared. "Alissa…pick…up!" he said slowly. "We…need…to…talk…to…you!" As he spoke, the matching words appeared on the SP.

Bernie tried not to laugh. "That's all you have to do?"

"Yeah. The Keyblade will tell us when she gets the message. Can we go now?"

Yen Sid nodded, and raised his arm. An enormous, black-and-red ship rose up, and floated by the window. "The pathways between the worlds have disappeared, but you may open new ones by unlocking special gates with the Keyblade."

Riku pointed at the unfamiliar Gummi ship. "What is that, Master Yen Sid? What happened to the Valefor?"

Emma grinned. "I built a new ship. It's called the Phoenix. I wanted to keep up the tradition of naming Gummi ships after Final Fantasy summons."

"You must hurry to Hollow Bastion," Yen Sid told them. "Many people are waiting for you there."

The Senshi all saluted the wizard. "Yessir, Master Yen Sid!"

"We really appreciate the help," Emma thanked him. She looked over at Haiiro, who was floating silently in the corner. "And thanks for telling me about my dad. It's sort of scary to know that my dad's alive, though…and it raises all sorts of questions. Why did Dad abandon Mom and me? Why didn't he tell us the truth about where he was from? Does Mom know that her ex-husband is alive?" She sighed. "Well, the only way to get answers is to travel around. Let's go, guys. And thanks again, Master Yen Sid." She and the Senshi ran out.

… … …

The Senshi appeared on the Phoenix, and looked around. "Nice ship," Donald remarked.

"Hey, guys!" a voice called from the front. The Senshi looked up, and grinned. "Good to see you again! You look older!"

Emma ran over and shook Max's hand. "Yeah, it's been two years in the real world. What's up?"

Max sat back down in the driver's seat. "I'm going to be your chauffeur again!"

"Gummi ship driving is harder in KH2, y'know," Bernie told him.

"Oh, really?" Max laughed. "Good! I could use a challenge!" He pushed a few buttons. "You need to be dropped off at Hollow Bastion, right?" The Senshi nodded. "All right! Disembark!" He pushed a big, red button, and the Senshi disappeared.

… … …

"Gawrsh, is this really Hollow Bastion?" Goofy asked. "It looks so neat!"

Emma nodded. "Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, and Cid are fixing it up. They call theirselves the Restoration Committee." She started walking, towards the Borough. "We have to go…huh?"

A large group of people was running around the square, looking excited and hyper. An exasperated-looking Asian girl was leaning against a lamppost nearby, wearing a red kimono with pants underneath. "Okay, I know I said ya'll could come wit' me, but yer gonna hafta calm down. Yer 'a no use if ya can't even do that."

A purple-haired girl stood next to her, polishing a handgun. "At this rate, they'll probably pass out from a lack of breath. Let's give it time."

 _Hey! Is that…it is!_  Emma stopped walking towards the Borough, and ran towards the group. "Robin! Guys, Robin's here!"

Robin looked up and grinned. "Well, well, well! If it ain't the Juu Senshi!" She gave Emma a hi-five. "How're ya'll doin' without me?"

"Well, we practically just got here," Sora told her. "Who are these guys?"

The teenagers' eyes widened, and they ran over to Sora. A girl with long, white, braided hair poked him. "Wow, I can't believe it! You're really Sora! And Riku, and Kairi, and Donald, and Goofy!"

Robin sighed. "Leave the guy alone for a second, Neassa. We're gonna help you guys out from now on! Y'know, poppin' up every so often and makin' sure yer not gettin' yer cans handed ta ya. This is Neassa," Robin announced, gesturing to the white-haired girl. "This's Sona," she continued, pointing to the red-head. "This's Dragon…"

"Hey," a girl with black hair murmured.

"…Angel…"

Another guy with black hair waved. "Nice to meet you!"

"…Yami…." A blonde boy with a bandana over his left eye nodded, but said nothing. "…Sim…"

"That's my name, don't wear it out."

"…Pyro…"

"YAY, WE'RE REALLY IN KINGDOM HEARTS!"

Robin twitched. "That's right. Wolf…"

"Hey."

"…and this is-"

The purple-haired girl bowed. "My name's Tolea! It's nice to finally meet you, Emma."

Emma scratched her head. "Yeah, nice to meet you, too."

Dia held out her hand. "Tolea! Remember me?"

Tolea looked at her funny for a moment, then shook her hand. "Yeah, we threw woodchips at Robin when she bullied us that one time. I remember that now."

"You got accepted into the Ino Senshi after it became sort of a video game club, right?"

"Yeah. I really wanted to see Emma."

Robin smiled. "She's been goin' on an' on about how much she wanted ta meetcha. Won't tell why, though. Where're ya'll headed ta?"

Bernie pointed to the Borough. "We have to go to Merlin's House."

"Ah, yeah. Well, when yer done, go ta the Postern. Some guy wants ta talk to you."

"What did he look like?"

"He had a real long braid…an' he was wearin' this uniform."

"What else?"

"Hmm…there were two girls wit' 'im."

"Hmm…I'm still not sure who he is…but thanks anyway, Robin! And it was nice meeting you, Ino Senshi!"

The Ino Senshi nodded. "Bye, Emma!" Tolea called.

… … …

"Did you guys miss us?" The Juu Senshi walked into Merlin's House, waving. Sora pushed Bernie forward. "This is one of our real-worlder friends, Bernie. She's been with us for a while, but you guys never got to meet her."

Yuffie leapt up. "Hiya! Nice to meet you, Bernie!"

Cid held one hand up in greeting. "Hey." Leon nodded.

 _Please work…please work…_  Emma closed her eyes, and concentrated.

Aerith clasped her hands together. "It's been a while, you guys! It's good to see you!"

The real-worlders all stared at Emma. "Emma, you're my hero," Dia whispered.

"Heh, thanks." Instead of having a cold, lifeless, robotic voice, Aerith still had Mandy Moore's voice. "I could've done something more productive than changing Aerith's voice, I know, but it's the little things that count."

"You guys came back at a great time," Leon told them. "Hollow Bastion's been overrun by Heartless AND Nobodies. Would you mind helping out?"

Sora grinned. "Like we're gonna say no?"

Leon nodded again. "Great. I was going to show you something, but I'm sure you already know about it."

"The legions of Heartless surrounding the castle?" Bernie filled in.

"That's it."

Merlin suddenly appeared nearby. "I thought I heard you, Juu Senshi!"

"How'd you know that's what we called ourselves now?" Kairi asked.

"I'm a wizard, child, I know everything! Now, Leon, did you give them the cards?"

Leon took eight cards out of his pocket. "Sorry, Bernie. We weren't expecting someone else."

Bernie smiled. "That's okay."

Sora examined his membership card. "Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee! Cool." He looked up. "We have to go to the Postern for a while…we'll come back later."

Merlin took out a golden medallion with an image of a beetle engraved on it. "Hold on! This is for you."

"Uh…thanks! What is it?"

"It's called the Beetle Charm. There's a powerful summon inside of it!"

Sora took the Beetle Charm, then held it up. "I should test it out now, then! C'mon!" Nothing happened. "Are you sure it's working, Merlin!"

Merlin nodded. "Yes, it's working fine."

"Then why is nothing being summoned?" Merlin didn't respond this time, so Sora tossed the charm to Emma. "Maybe you can make it work. You can have it."

Emma grinned.  _I was going to tell Sora that there's a special way to summon this guy, but I think I'll just keep my mouth shut and keep the summon._  She put the charm in her pocket. "Thanks, Merlin! It was nice seeing you guys. We'll be back when we're done!" She and the other Senshi ran out the door.

… … …

"I know I've said this a lot, but thank you very much for giving us real homes, Aldwyndain." A girl with slightly spiked orange hair was perched on top of a structure in the Postern. A younger girl with blonde hair and white robes sat next to her. "It's much better than the waterways."

Aldwyndain modestly bowed his head. "You're welcome. Since we're rebuilding the town anyway, I thought we could build a few more houses."

The Senshi climbed the stairs, and stood by them. "Are you the one who wanted to see us?" Emma called.

"Huh? Oh!" Aldwyndain turned around. "Emma!" He walked over, followed by the girls. "Yes, I am! My name is Aldwyndain. This is Saezuri Yōchina."

Emma bent down so she was closer to Saezuri's level. "You're Eclipse and Hart's cousin, right?"

"Uh-huh!" Saezuri nodded proudly. "And you're the girl who brought them back to us, right?"

Emma also looked proud. "Uh-huh!"

Aldwyndain smiled. "Juu Senshi, would you…" He chuckled a little. "…would you…"

Dia crossed her arms. "What?"

"I'm sorry. It's nothing, really…just that there aren't ten of you anymore."

"So are you suggesting that we change our name again?"

"No, it was just an observation. Anyway, Juu Senshi, would you-"

"Kokoro Senshi," Dia corrected. "Heart Fighters."

Aldwyndain put his face in his hands. "Okay, I was just saying that there weren't ten of you. You didn't have to change it."

"Yeah, well, I did."

"You're TRYING to annoy me, aren't you?" Aldwyndain asked, though he looked more amused than annoyed. "As I was saying, KOKORO Senshi, would you please follow me?" He walked down a path that wasn't in the game.

Dia shrugged. "Whatever floats your boat, Aldwyndain."

Aldwyndain turned back around, and smirked at the teenager. "Oh, it's not Aldwyndain anymore. It's Bob." He continued walking, followed by Saezuri and the Kokoro Senshi.

"I like this guy," Dia remarked.

… … …

"Welcome to the new home of the Nekoshu tribe, the Shinkatei!" Aldwyndain announced. "What do you think?"

The Shinkatei was filled with wooden houses roughly the size of the areas in the waterways. In the center, there was a larger house that was painted black, and was draped with a red cloth with fangs on it. "That would be where Eclipse and Hart live, right?" Kairi played with one of the cloth's tassels. "This place looks great."

There were two medium-sized houses on either side of the royal house. "These houses are for the Head Warrior and the Head Mage. Come on!" Aldwyndain motioned for the Senshi to enter the house for the Head Warrior, as Saezuri left for one of the smaller houses. "You have to meet someone."

"Who?" Sora asked. Once they entered, everyone noticed two boys sitting at a table. Sora completely ignored one of them, focused on the other, and yelled, "YOU'RE MY NOBODY!"

Roxas looked up. "And you're my Other? Nice to meet you, Sora." He looked at the others. "And you guys are Emma, Dia, Jake, Donald, Goofy, Riku, Kairi, and Bernie."

The other boy, who looked to be a few years younger, got up and bowed to them. "Thank you for bringing back Eclipse-chō and Hart-chan!"

Aldwyndain patted the boy's head. "Guys, this is Gaunt Ketsueki. He's going to be the next Head Warrior!"

 _That's Gaunt? He doesn't look much like a Nikushimi at all! But he seems to be just as polite as Kirau._  Emma shook off her surprise and smiled. "You're welcome, Gaunt." She glanced at Roxas. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, Aldwyndain and DiZ said that I was supposed to help you guys out."

"Looks like there are ten of us again, Dia," Donald said jokingly.

Dia glared at him and materialized the Shihaii Wand. "If you don't watch it, there'll be nine again," she warned him.

… … …

"Ha! I knew those pipsqueaks couldn't get rid of you, Maleficent!" Pete exclaimed, standing in the ruins of Ansem's castle with Maleficent and Etoile. "You're way more powerful than they are, huh?"

Etoile scoffed. "Think again, tardmuffin. They killed her. She came back to life. Get it through your thick skull."

Maleficent raised an eyebrow. "And who is this little rabbit?"

"Etoile Caligula, professional assassin," the viera announced. "That Guardian guy offered me a job in Rei no Aku a while ago. When I heard that he was out of the picture, I decided to reconsider, seeing as the goody-goodies I was hanging out with before were a bunch of ragoverths."

The witch looked intrigued. "You are an assassin? I trust you can be stealthy, then?"

Etoile nodded. "Of course I can, lady? Got a job for me?"

"Indeed."

"Good! I'm too valuable a fighter to sit around in an empty castle and vache!"

"And what?"

Pete shook his head. "I don't even TRY to understand her…I don't think you should either."

Maleficent apparently ignored him. "Miss Caligula, my plan requires you to locate a young boy named Gaunt Ketsueki. He has traces of darkness inside him; if we can unlock his heart, he will be an unstoppable killer, fit to transform millions of beings into Heartless!"

Etoile nodded. "That'll be way baddo!"

"No, that would be most useful," Maleficent corrected her, clearly irritated.

"That's what I said!" Etoile chirped. "What's the kidlet look like?"

"You should be enabled to sense the darkness within him, due to the powers you have been given for aiding our cause."

She shrugged and heaved a black-and-red bow over her shoulder. "Yes'm." Etoile grinned at Pete. "Once I do a few more jobs like this, I'll get you something nice with all the jack I'll get from them. A man-bra, perhaps?" She snickered and disappeared.

Maleficent turned around. "Jack?"

"She means gil," Pete mumbled.

It took her a while to register this, but Maleficent burst with cackling. "I was wondering why a woman like that had decided to work for us! She is a PAID assassin, is she not?" Pete nodded glumly. "Ha! How do you intend to pay her?"

"We'll probably run into a ton of suckers while we're tracking the Senshi," Pete told her. "Some of 'em must be willing to pay some good munny. She can convert it to gil later."

Maleficent smirked. "It is beneficial for more than one person, then. Miss Caligula gets paid, I get to control all, and you will get a lovely man-bra." Pete glared at her, then self-consciously prodded his fat.

… … …

"Wow, this is my lucky day!" Neassa exclaimed. She rapidly poked Roxas's arm. "I get to meet all these game characters!"

The Juu and Ino Senshi were standing in the Shinkatei's square with Roxas, Aldwyndain, and Gaunt. Roxas laughed nervously. "That's great…"

Jake tugged on Aldwyndain's sleeve, looking hopeful. "Roxas doesn't have to join with Sora yet, does he?"

Aldwyndain put one hand on Roxas's shoulder. "It depends on what Roxas wants to do. If he wants to make Sora whole again, then that's fine. If he wants to stay himself for a while, that's fine, too."

Etoile was sitting silently of the roof of one of the nearby shops. "Sense, shmence, lady. I don't feel any darkness here at…huh?" She squinted at Gaunt. "Who's the little cutie hanging out with those bogans? I guess that's the kidlet I'm looking for…but I'll have to nape those guys to get to him."

Roxas grinned. "I think I'll stay myself for a while. That's okay, right?" Sora nodded. "Okay, it's settled."

"Hmm…I might need some back-up," Etoile mused. She snapped, and a dozen Heartless wielding crossbows appeared beside her. "That's better!" She leapt off the roof. "I told you I'd be back, Juu Senshi!"

"Kokoro Senshi," Dia corrected. Riku elbowed her in the ribs. "Fine, fine…Juu Senshi."

"It doesn't matter what your group's called! Hand over Gaunt Ketsueki!" Etoile ordered.

The Senshi took out their weapons, and held them out. "Stay away from Gaunt!" Sona snapped.

"Oh, please! You're being totally gabbo. Just give him to me, or I'll have to use force!"

Sim stuck out her tongue. "Bring it on, grandma!"

Etoile brought out her bow. "It's on, ragoverths! Arrow Heartless, attack!"

Emma swiped at a few of them with the Hikari Sword. "Wow, you're really bad at this, aren't you?"

"Shut up!" More Arrow Heartless appeared, just enough to keep Etoile's enemies occupied for the time being. Etoile gripped onto Gaunt's arm. "Hey, kidlet!"

Gaunt whimpered, then attempted to bit the viera's arm. "Let go of me!"

Etoile patted the half-Nikushimi's head. "Don't worry, kidlet, this won't hurt a bit…HYAH!" She held out her free hand, and a wave of darkness overcame Gaunt. "That's right, give us your heart!"

Saezuri ran outside. "Gaunt!" she cried.

A glowing light floated out of Gaunt's chest, and he crumpled to the ground. "Ha! I'm going to be swimming in gil when I get back to Maleficent!"

Sora, Donald, Goofy, Riku, and Kairi stared in horror. "Didn't we kill her?" Sora rasped.

"She came back," Emma told him through gritted teeth. "And now she's got Gaunt."

Gaunt looked up, seeming to be perfectly normal. "Who's got me, Emma-chan?" he queried, cocking his head to one side again.

Etoile groaned. "What happened? I saw your heart leave your body!"

"That wasn't his heart," a man's voice snarled. "It was MINE."

Everyone in the central square of the Shinkatei turned around. The heart was still floating in the air, glittering. "It's been at least half a century since I last breathed fresh air," the voice murmured. "It feels good." The shining orb grew wider, and formed into the shape of a person. His mellow voice quickly evolved back into a hostile tone. "Who's trying to destroy my descendant, Gaunt-kun?" The light was disintegrated by a wave of darkness. When it cleared, a man wearing a white fur coat and matching pants was able to be seen. Long, black hair obstructed his downward-tilted face. "Stay away from him, or you'll pay," he vowed. He flexed his hands, which were only bones with claws. "You'll face death, courtesy of the First Nikushimi!"

Jake squealed. "It's Chief Kirau! He's gonna save us!"

Robin shook her head. "Naw, he's gonna save Gaunt, an' he's gonna KILL us."

A few members of the Ino Senshi clearly looked scared. "Wh-who's Kirau?" Pyro warbled nervously.

"He was the first chief of the Nikushimi tribe; half cat, half Heartless," Emma explained.

"So why would he help us if he's half Heartless?" Dragon demanded.

"Because he used to be good."

Etoile jumped back. "Whoa!" She fumbled around for an arrow, and set her bow up. "ROCKSEAL!"

Kirau turned to stone. Just as Etoile was about to breathe a sigh of relief, the stone crumbled, and Kirau continued to swipe at her. "You can't get rid of me that easily!" he roared.

Bernie shook Sora's shoulder. "Go over there and help Kirau!"

"No way! That's suicide!"

"Get him to do a Limit with you, Sora!" Emma pressed on. "He's not all that bad, just tell him that you want to help him save Gaunt!"

"You mean that combination-thingy you guys were telling me about?" The real-worlders nodded. "Oh, all right…" Sora grumbled, stalking over to Kirau. "Can I help you? I'm sort of a friend of Gaunt…"

Kirau stopped his attacks for a moment. "I'd be happy if you helped, Sora-kun. Thank you."

Sora scratched his head. "How do you know my name?"

"I see what Gaunt-kun sees. My heart was trapped inside of his body."

"What? Why was it-"

Kirau shook his head. "I can't explain it now. Let's exterminate this kidnapper!"

Sora took out the Kingdom Key. "Okay! Uh…how do you do a Limit again, Emma?"

"Just improvise!" she called back.

Sora sighed. "Do you have any ideas, Chief Kirau?"

Kirau grabbed Sora's hand, freaking Sora out. "Hold out your Keyblade, and spin around!" he suggested.

"Uh…okay!" Sora and Kirau spun around, with their weapons and claws outstretched, continually smacking and slicing at Etoile. "Chief Kirau, can you toss me up really high?"

The skeleton-like chief stopped spinning for a split second, grabbed Sora's large feet, and threw him into the air. While Sora was coming back down, Kirau resumed his slicing. "Now, Sora-kun!" Sora extended the Kingdom Key, squarely bashing Etoile's forehead.

Etoile keeled over on impact. "Yeowch! I don't know what hurts more; my head, or the fact that I lost all of that jack!" She disappeared, as did the Arrow Heartless.

The Senshi ran over. "That was amazing," Lea noted. "You're really strong."

A glimpse of his former personality shone through as Kirau laughed and modestly bowed his head. "Thanks. I just wanted to protect Gaunt-kun."

Gaunt looked up at his ancestor. "I'm really grateful, Kirau-chō!"

Three Nekoshus walked out of the royal house; a woman with short, black hair, and two teenage boys; one was fancily-dressed, and one had brownish-blonde hair that appeared reminiscent of oatmeal. "What's going on here?" the second boy asked, looking around. His eyes settled on Kirau. "Hey! What's a Nikushimi doing here?" He rubbed his eyes furiously. "He looks like Chief Kirau Ketsueki!"

Bernie waved. "Eclipse! Hart! We missed you!"

Eclipse laughed. "I didn't expect you guys to be here! Hey, Miru, come here and meet my friends!"

Hart rolled her eyes. "Miru, this is Sora, Donald, Goofy, Emma, Dia, Jake, Riku, Kairi, Robin, Bernie, and…a whole bunch of people that I don't know."

Eclipse looked the First Nikushimi over. "I don't get it! How are you alive?"

Kirau grimaced. "Shii-chan did it," he announced, referring to his wife, Atarashii Kouzoku. "My heart wasn't taken when I became a Nikushimi; all Nikushimi still have their hearts. Shii-chan didn't want me to have one, though, because I had to be a brutal, powerful chief." He cursed under his breath before continuing. "That crazy woman, hid it so nobody could find it. Somewhere along the way, it must have been given to Gaunt-kun. It's a good thing it was, or that woman would've stolen his heart, instead of releasing mine."

Aldwyndain pounded his fist into his hand. "I get it! So your heart transformed into what you looked like when Atarashii took it from you!"

"I guess so." Kirau shrugged. "I don't know how that's supposed to have worked, but that's probably what happened."

"I'm still confused!" Pyro wailed.

The others generally ignored her. "Since we helped you save Gaunt, can you do us a favor?" Kairi asked.

Kirau blinked his large, yellow eyes. "Well, that depends on the favor."

"Can you come with us? And help us save the universe and all that stuff?"

"Huh?" Kirau looked oddly at the Juu Senshi. "Why would you want me to help? I'm half Heartless!"

Eclipse grinned. "I could make a psychic barrier between your body and the darkness! When you're fighting, you can take down the barrier, and become a Nikushimi again."

Kirau also started to smile. "I remember hearing something about you being a psychic while I was inside Gaunt…could you really do that?"

Eclipse nodded. "First, I need something to channel the energy into. Got anything?"

Gaunt hurriedly pulled off his fingerless gloves, and held them out. "You can use these, Kirau-chō! They're big on me, so they'll probably fit!"

"Thank you." Kirau put on the gloves. "You can go ahead now." Eclipse nodded, and his eyes started glowing a light purple color. Two spheres of the same color materialized and soaked into Kirau's gloves. The Kingdom Hearts symbol, a blue heart with a crown in the center, appeared on them. Kirau was bathed in light, and his fangs regressed and dulled into normal-sized teeth. The bags under his eyes disappeared, his limbs grew skin, and his yellow eyes darkened to brown. Lastly, his Heartless insignia earrings shaped theirselves into pearly fangs. Once the light faded, Kirau looked like a Nekoshu again. He laughed, and looked down at himself. "Thank you so much, Eclipse-chō!"

Eclipse also laughed. "No problem, Kirau…I mean, Kaze."

Kaze turned back to the Senshi. "I'd be glad to come with you guys." He bowed. "But before I go…I was wondering about something. If my heart was inside Gaunt-kun, then…" He looked at Saezuri anxiously. He knelt down, and patted Saezuri's head. "If you can hear me, Chikara-chan…I apologize. I didn't know what happened, but I learned the truth while watching Gaunt-kun's history classes. Did you really cleave that stupid Kon'yaku into three pieces?" Saezuri just raised her eyebrow. "That's right…why would Chikara-chan's heart be inside of you? She didn't lose her heart." He stood up. "Let's go, Juu Senshi."

As they walked away, a voice yelled, "Wait up, Kaze!" Kaze turned around. An image of an old woman with long hair and fang-fringed clothing appeared behind Saezuri. "I forgive you if you forgive me."

Kaze grinned. "Chikara-chan!"

Chikara nodded. "I'm glad you've gone back to normal. And yes…" She also grinned, almost insanely. "…I did cleave Kon'yaku into three pieces. Not the most lady-like thing to do in a situation like that, but it was pretty satisfying."

Wolf twitched. "You cut him into three chunks? Who'd you cut into three chunks?"

"Your momma," Sim replied.

"But, wait…" Kaze looked confused. "Why is your heart inside of Saezuri-chan?"

Chikara shrugged. "When I died, Ka Gen preserved my heart. Somehow, it must have ended up inside of Saezuri." She glanced down at her wrinkled hands. "Too bad you still look thirty, and I'm stuck looking like an old prune," she laughed.

"Wonderful. Can we go now?" Sim asked. Sora and Emma nodded.

Hart waved. "We'll take care of Gaunt," she assured Kaze. "Saezuri, too."

Kaze nodded. "I'll see you some other time, Hart-chan…Eclipse-chō…Aldwyndain-sama…Miru-kun…Gaunt-kun…Saezuri-chan…Chikara-chan..."

Sora laughed. "Nice meeting you guys!" Suddenly, the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee card rose out of his pocket. "Huh?"

Yami pointed at it. "You have to lock it."

"The card? Why?"

Sona crossed her arms. "It'll open the gates to two new worlds."

Sora shrugged and held out the Kingdom Key. Following a slightly confusing display of Sora and the card being transported to a weird, dark, cloudy place, Hollow Bastion was locked, and the gates to the Land of Dragons and Beast's Castle were opened. "Time to go to the next world!"


	3. The Dragon Qiónglong

The Juu and Ino Senshi appeared on the Phoenix. "Hey, Max, we brought a few more friends," Sora announced. "Actually, twelve of them. Including Robin."

Robin raised her hand. "Yo."

Max made his hardest attempt to smile. "Uh…hi. And welcome back, I guess, Robin. I'm not gonna have to shuttle ALL of you around for the rest of the game, am I?"

Angel stared at Max. "What, he's here too?"

"Yeah, get used ta it. Emma's made lotsa changes ta the game, so dun be surprised if somethin's real different," Robin explained. She looked back at Max. "These guys're Roxas an' Kaze."

Roxas nodded. "Nice to meet you, Max."

Kaze bowed his head. "Thanks for driving us, Max-kun."

"Unlike us, they're part of Juu Senshi, so they're permanent."

Max waved a little. "Nice to meet you guys, too. So, where are we going next?"

"Asteroid Sweep," Emma told him. "You have to go through there to get to Land of Dragons." Max nodded and turned around. Emma sat in one of the seats and sighed.  _I can't believe Dad is alive…does Mom know? I really hope she got the message…_

A tinkling sound came from the Kingdom Key. Everyone turned around. "It's Alissa!" Sora announced. "She must have found Emma's Gameboy SP!" He brought up the screen, and made it bigger so everyone else could see.

NEW MESSAGE

LOADING MESSAGE

Alissa: Hi, Sora! What did you need to tell me?

Sora: Hi, Alissa. First of all, there's something wrong with the save points. Emma, Dia, Jake, and Bernie can't go back to the real world.

"That's weird, Robin's save point was fine when we came here," Dragon noted.

"Have you tried leaving since you came, though?" Dia asked. Dragon shook her head. "Well, then."

Alissa: They can't? Oh…but they're okay, right?

Sora: We're all doing great. It's a little crowded now, but we're doing great.

Alissa: Good. Is that all?

"WHOA!" Suddenly, the Phoenix shuddered. Max grinned apologetically at the Senshi. "Sorry. I was trying to read the message."

Sora: No…there's one more thing.

Alissa: What's up?

Sora: I don't really know a better way to say this, but…Emma's dad is alive.

Alissa: I know.

"Huh?" Emma looked confused. "Sora, can I take the Keyblade for a second?" Sora nodded.

Emma: Mom?

Alissa: How are you doing, honey?

Emma: Why didn't you tell me that Dad was alive?

It took a little while for her mother to respond.

Alissa: Do you remember when you were six years old, you came home from school one day, and I was crying?

Emma: Yeah. You said that Dad died, but you wouldn't tell me how.

Alissa: I'm sorry, Emma…I just didn't want to tell you what really happened. Your father just said, "I have to go, Alissa. Please forgive me." And he left with some other woman.

Emma: Another woman?

Dia stood up. "Emma, give me the Keyblade!"

Emma reluctantly handed it over. "What are you going to say?"

Dia: Alissa!

Alissa: Well, it seems like you're all very talkative today…

Dia: Alissa, was the woman's name Bree?

Alissa: Hmm…yes. Yes, that was her name.

Dia: Short, reddish-brown hair?

Alissa: I suppose.

Dia: Did she have a swirly, red tattoo by her right eye?

Alissa: Yes. I remember it.

Dia: THAT'S MY MOM!

The Senshi stared blankly at Dia. "Your mom ran off with Emma's dad?" Riku repeated.

Jake shook his head wildly. "No! Mommy wouldn't have done that!"

"Of course not!" Dia agreed. "I think Mom was from Kingdom Hearts too, and she went back to the game, with Emma's dad!"

Dia: Don't worry, Alissa, your husband didn't cheat on you. He went back into the game.

Alissa: What game? Do you mean Kingdom Hearts?

Dia: Yep. And congratulations on getting the name right. A friend of ours says that Emma's dad was from a place called Hollow Bastion. My mom must have been from Hollow Bastion, too.

"No, she was from Ivalice," Tolea spoke up.

Now, everyone was staring at Tolea. "What?" Dia looked startled, as did Jake.

Before anyone could ask another question, the Phoenix screeched to a stop. "Disembarking at Land of Dragons!" Max announced, and pushed the red button.

… … …

"I've always wondered why this place was called Land of Dragons and not China," Pyro remarked.

Neassa shrugged. "First off, China isn't a world. It's a country. So that would be pretty stupid of Disney and Square Enix to name a world 'China'. Second, China is a place in the real-world. I guess they didn't want a real-world place to even be mentioned in the game."

"Be quiet!" Dark hissed. He gestured to Mushu's shadow and Mulan up ahead. "He doesn't know, us, does he?" he asked quietly, referring to Mushu.

Emma shook her head. "We killed Maleficent before we could get the Fireglow."

Sim strode forward. "We won't get anywhere by crouching behind a boulder," she scoffed. "I'm going to talk to Mulan." The other Senshi looked at each other, then followed her. She raised her hand. "Hey! What's up, Mulan?"

Mulan jumped back, clearly nervous. "What?" Mushu's shadow stared at them.

Angel sighed. "Sorry about her. We know about you trying to join the Imperial Army and all, and we wanna help."

"What?" Mulan asked again. "How did you know that?"

"Oops." Angel slapped himself in the head.

Emma was still partially behind the boulder, peeking out.  _Oh, boy…without Mushu knowing us, this is going to be hard…wait!_  She grinned widely, and held onto her necklace.

The Senshi racked their minds to come up with a good reason for them to know about Mulan's predicament. "Well …" Wolf scratched his head. "Y'see, we're…um…" Emma stepped out, in Pyromaniac form. "…we're your special aids! The dragon, uh, Qiónglong wanted us to help you, because she felt sorry for you!" Wolf lied.

Mulan looked at Emma's fangs and claws, and seemed to loosen up. "Thank you!" she exclaimed, in her normal voice. "But…why do you look human?"

"Qiónglong doesn't want to scare anyone who sees her," Roxas volunteered quickly.

Mushu immediately scurried out. "Now, hold on a second! I'M her family guardian, sent by her ancestors THEMSELVES!" Emma narrowed her red eyes, and he stopped talking.

Mulan bowed. "I am truly honored, Qiónglong."

"Yeah, yeah, it's great." Mushu crawled onto Mulan's shoulder. "We'd better get goin'. Remember, girl; act manly!" Mulan nodded, straightened her back, and strutted awkwardly towards the camp.

Robin grinned. "Well, I can tell ya, Emma, I'm pretty impressed wit' ya. But how're us other gals gonna get inta the camp?"

Emma thought for a moment, then snapped. "Donald, remember when you made us into sea creatures for Atlantica?" Donald nodded. "Can you…?" She bent down and whispered into where his ears would be.

"I hope so," Donald mumbled. "I'll see what I can do."

… … …

"Awright, lunch. I'm first," Dia announced as she and the other Senshi entered the camp.

Yao shoved her out of the way. "What are you doing here? Women aren't allowed to join the army!" He surveyed the female Senshi in disgust. "Especially little ones."

Dia pulled up her sleeves. "Yeah, well what if the little women can kick the dookie out of you?" She reared her arm back, and sent the midget flying with a punch.

The other soldiers stared at her. Yao wobbled to his feet, and ran back over. "Maybe I should beat some manners into you!" He threatened.

"Heh! Big talk, little man!" Dia prepared herself to kick Yao, but he side-stepped, and Dia accidentally kicked Ling's shin. "Sorry!"

Within moments, Ling and Yao were attacking Dia. "All right, now it's a party!" Sona cheered, and did a frontflip, kicking both men.

Pyro jumped back and forth like a boxer. "I pity the foo'!" she declared, and swung crazily at Ling.

The other Senshi just watched. "This scene is even funnier than it is in the game," Bernie decided.

"Soldiers!" a voice thundered. "Get back in line!"

Ling turned around. "The Captain!" He, the soldiers, and the Senshi hurriedly got into a line.

Shang walked up and down the line. He stopped in front of the female Senshi. "Girls?" he asked incredulously. "GIRLS? The punishment for women joining the army is death, do you know that?"

"Now," Emma whispered. Donald held the Mage's Staff behind his back and closed his eyes. Suddenly, Emma was engulfed in flames. When they died down, a long, thin, red Eastern-style dragon was floating near a very shocked Shang. "I am the dragon Qiónglong!" she declared majestically. "It is my wish that these girls, Dia, Kairi, Bernie, Robin, Dragon, Sona, Neassa, Sim, Pyro, and Tolea are allowed to join the Imperial Army!"

Shang bowed. "I will honor your wish, Qiónglong!"

Emma returned back to her human form, but she was still in Pyromaniac form. "Thank you, Captain Shang. Please continue."

"Your first training activity, men…and girls…is to-" Shang was interrupted by the appearance of at least a dozen Shadow Heartless. "What are those?"

Pyro held her hand out. "Hoshi Blade!" A large sword appeared, and she grasped it. "They're Heartless, Captain, sir! But don't worry; we'll exterminate them!"

The Senshi all took out their swords, shields, staffs, and other weapons. Tolea took out her handgun, and shot a Heartless that was barreling straight at her. "Boom!"

 _I'm going to use up SO many ethers to make sure I stay in this form,_  Emma mentally groaned. She flexed her claws. "Feel the wrath of the dragon Qiónglong!" she roared, clawing several Shadows, and setting several more on fire.

Jake giggled. "Emma's really getting into her role, huh, Sis?"

Dia laughed and spun the Shihaii Wand around. "Yeah, but I don't blame her." She possessed a few Shadows, and made them crawl into the area of Emma's attack radius.

Mulan raised her sword, and batted at a Heartless. "Whoa!" Another one that was passing tripped her. "Ugh, these creatures are really irritating me!"

Soon, all of the Heartless were gone. "You, newcomers!" Shang called. "What are your names?"

"Sora."

"Donald."

"Goofy!"

"Dia."

"Jake!"

"Riku."

"Kairi."

"Bernie."

"Robin."

"Roxas."

"Kaze."

"Tolea."

"Angel."

"Dark."

"Wolf."

"Pyro!"

"Sim."

"Neassa."

"Dragon."

"Sona. You know, introducing ourselves is gonna get really annoying by the time we're halfway through this game," she muttered to her allies.

Shang nodded. "And of course, the dragon Qiónglong. You are all welcome in my troupe. Your battle skills are encouraging." He turned to Mulan. "You, Fa Ping, should return home."

Mulan's eyes widened. "B-but…that would dishonor my family!"

"Would you rather dishonor my troops?" Shang asked in response. Mulan lowered her head.

Sora walked forward. "Captain, please give Ping another chance! I'm sure that he'll get better in no time, if he trains hard and does his best. Just give us an assignment!"

Shang put one hand on his chin. "A test? All right. This is a tough one, but you should do at least decently with fighters like these helping you. Your mission is to secure the path over the summit so our company can pass. I'll authorize you to be let through the summit."

… … …

"I think you're doing a lot better, Mulan!" Sora announced as the Senshi and Mulan fought their way through the Mountain Trail.

Mulan swung her sword around, and killed two Heartless simultaneously. "Thanks!"

The Senshi entered a small village, and looked around. "Do you think there's anyone here?" Goofy wondered. The real-worlders shook their heads.

After a few minutes of looking around the village, Shang walked in with two foot soldiers. "Well?"

"Ping did excellently, Captain," Emma assured him.

"Fine. You can join my troops," Shang told Mulan. "But I'm still not convinced that you have what it takes to be a worthy soldier."

Sora clenched his fists. "But, Captain-"

Mulan shook her head. "It's all right, Sora. I'll find a way to show him what I'm made of. Just give me a chance."

"That's the spirit." Shang and the foot soldiers left for the summit.

As soon as the men left, Mushu popped out of Mulan's armor. "Okay, girl! I just saw this real shady guy higher up on the mountain, and I know it's Shan-Yu!"

Mulan gasped. "Shan-Yu? The leader of the Hun army?" Mushu nodded excitedly. "We've got to tell Captain Shang!"

"Waaaaaiiiiit, wait, wait, wait, wait, WAIT!" Mushu exclaimed. "Think about it! We're here to bring honor to your family, right? If we can track down that Shan-Yu guy, we can fry him up good! Captain Muscle-head will HAVE to notice my girl!" he announced proudly.

Mulan turned to look at Emma. "Qiónglong?"

Emma seemed to be pleased with all of the attention she was getting with her fake identity. "I say we go after Shan-Yu."

"Okay, let's go."

… … …

"There's nothing here," Dark grumbled.

Mushu looked around wildly. "I…I coulda sworn I saw Shan-Yu come in here!"

The Senshi, Mulan, and Mushu were standing in the Village Cave. Sora sighed. "It's a dead end."

Sim tapped her foot impatiently. "Let's just go."

The majority of the Senshi left, mumbling about how annoying and relatively pointless the next battle was, especially because they couldn't participate in it. "Come on." Emma headed out of the cave.

"Wait!" Sora called. "Em…er, Qiónglong…didn't you say there was going to be a fight here?"

Emma turned around. "I didn't feel like leaving it in." She laughed and left the cave, followed by Sora and Mulan, and they rejoined with the others.

The village that they had just left had been reduced to ashes and rubble. "Cool, a burnt village!" Pyro exclaimed. Everyone else glared at her. "Uh…I mean, oh, no! A burnt village!" She scurried off to go play in the ashes.

"Captain!" Shang was leaning against a blackened wall, clutching his side. Mulan ran over. "Captain, what happened?"

Shang winced. "It's just a scratch," he assured her, although he was obviously lying.

Mulan bit her lip. "Which way did the Huns go?"

"Toward…toward the summit…"

Pyro stopped rolling gleefully in the ashes. "We've gotta go stop them!"

Robin gave Shang a thumbs-up. "Don't worry, Cap'n Shang! We'll thrash those Huns fer ya!"

… … …

"I hate these things." Angel ruefully swiped at some Rapid Thruster Heartless with a pitch-black sword. "They're almost peskier than Shadows."

Fireworks flew out of Neassa's staff, and destroyed a few more Rapid Thrusters. "Almost," she agreed.

Tolea shot five Heartless in a row. "At least we're almost done with them."

Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po entered the summit, carrying a fire cannon. "Stand back!" Yao ordered.

"We'll handle this!" Ling announced.

Mulan ran over to him and grabbed the fire cannon. "Thank you!" she said in her manly-ish voice. She ran a little higher up the mountain and dug the cannon into the snow, aimed at the peak. "Oh, a flint!" She looked around for something to use as a flint; Mushu caught her eye, and she picked him up. "Gotcha!"

Emma chuckled and snapped. The wick of the cannon was set aflame. "There, now everyone's happy." Mushu wiped his forehead, and Mulan giggled a little. Suddenly, the missile launched, with Mushu still on it. "Oops."

An immense avalanche occurred, and snow tumbled down the mountain. At that moment, Shang entered. "Captain!" Mulan exclaimed. She ran over and grabbed Shang's hand, pulling him behind a rock, and shielding him from the avalanche.

Mushu popped out of the snow, grumbling, "First she tries to use me as a lighter, then she turns me into a cannon ball! The head ancestor's gonna hear about this. You know, that's it! I give up! I can't take this no more. C'mon, Mulan. Let's quit this charade and go home, girl." He glanced up, and covered his mouth; Shang was watching.

Shang glared at him, then at Mulan. "You? A woman? It can't be!" Next, he glared at the Senshi. "You all knew that Ping was a woman in disguise, didn't you? The punishment for high treason and dishonoring the army…is death." He sighed. "Get out of my sight. You're all dismissed. Emma opened her mouth to protest, but Shang raised his hand to silence her. "It is too late for intervention, Qiónglong." He and his troops left the summit.

"Mulan, I blew it," Mushu apologized.

Mulan took off her armor. "It's all right. I'm sorry I got all of you into trouble. I guess I should go back home now."

Emma shook her head. "We have to go to the Imperial City. Shan-Yu is still alive."

Mulan didn't bother questioning the 'dragon' on her announcement. "We've got to warn Shang!"

… … …

"Shang!" Mulan called. The Imperial Army had just entered the palace walls. "Shan-Yu is alive! He's heading this way!"

Shang narrowed his eyes. "And why should I believe you this time?"

"She's telling you the truth!" Sora insisted.

A cawing noise echoed around the area, and Hayabusa, Shan-Yu's hawk, flew in circles above the palace. Shan-Yu was standing on one of its towers. "Guard the palace!" Shang called to his troops. "Do not let the enemy get anywhere near the emperor!" Only Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po ran through the doors. The other soldiers stayed put. "That's an order!"

The soldiers morphed into Heartless, leaving Shang speechless. "Captain!" Shang turned around. "We'll secure the courtyard! Save the emperor!" Sora yelled.

"That's an order!" Donald added. Shang nodded and ran into the palace.

Shan-Yu grinned evilly at the Senshi and Mulan as Hayabusa landed on his shoulder. "You think you can defeat me?"

Emma smirked, and the Fire Stone stopped glowing; she returned to normal. Mulan looked confused, but Emma ignored her. "Yeah! We're gonna kick your hunny butt!" She took the Beetle Charm out of her pocket. "BEETLEJUICE, BEETLEJUICE, BEETLEJUICE!"

A corpse-like man in a pinstripe suit appeared in front of Emma, floating in midair. "Hey! What's going on?"

"I summoned you," Emma responded simply. "And whenever someone summons you, you've got to help them, right?"

Beetlejuice scowled. "Not if I don't want to. What do I get out of the deal?"

"For starters, you get to kill someone."

"I'm listening."

"And I'll throw in a couple of porn magazines."

The ghost immediately shook Emma's hand, causing her to cringe. "You've got yourself a deal, babes. So, who do I get to kill?"

Emma gestured to Shan-Yu. "That guy. I don't care how you do it, but get rid of him, okay?"

Beetlejuice cracked his knuckles. "Let's turn on the juice and see what shakes loose!" He transformed into a giant snake with a humanoid head. "I'm gonna like this job!"

Dia put her hand over Jake's eyes as Beetlejuice made short work of the Huns' leader. Emma grinned. "Thank you very much, Beetle-"

Beetlejuice made a screeching noise. "Don't say my name!"

"Yeah, sorry. Thanks, um…you. How about BJ? It's sort of your initials."

"Whatever floats your boat, kid, as long as you don't say my name when you shouldn't be sayin' it. And I expect those magazines next time you summon me," Beetlejuice reminded her.

Emma nodded. "Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!" The ghost promptly disappeared.

Mulan shook Emma's shoulder. "Qiónglong? You're not really a dragon, are you?"

"Huh? Oh, nope." Emma laughed. "I'm a human, just like you and everyone else here. Well, except for those guys," she amended, pointing out Donald, Goofy, Kaze, and Mushu. "And my name's not Qiónglong. It's Emma. But don't tell anyone else here, okay?"

"Okay," Mulan agreed.

A crowd gathered in the square as the emperor came out with Shang. "I've heard a great deal about you, Fa Mulan," the emperor announced. Emma hurriedly changed back into Pyromaniac form while nobody was looking. "You stole your father's armor, ran away from home, impersonated an Imperial soldier. You deceived you commanding officer, shamed the entire Chinese army, and dishonored your family name. You're a young woman. And in the end…" The Senshi and Mulan exchanged nervous glances, excluding the real-worlders. "…you have saved us all." The emperor bowed to Mulan, and the crowd cheered wildly. "Captain Li?" Shang picked up Shan-Yu's sword, and gave it to Mulan. "Take this, so the world will know what it is you have done for China."

"Actually, BJ did it," Sim whispered.

"Shut up!" Tolea whispered back.

Shang stepped forward. "Mulan? Sora? Donald? Goofy? Qiónglong? Dia? Jake? Riku? Kairi? Bernie? Robin? Er…all of you people? Thank you." Shang also bowed.

"Thank you?" the emperor repeated. "Is that all there is to say, Captain? If you wish to win the heart of Fa Mulan, China's bravest woman, you'll have to be a bit more eloquent than that!" Shang turned slightly red.

Shan-Yu's sword started glowing. Sora took out the Kingdom Key, and opened the gate. "Is it okay if we visit you guys sometime?" he asked when he was finished.

Mulan nodded. "Of course!"

Shang handed Sora a keychain. "I know it's not much, but you deserve some thanks too. I have something for you, too, Qiónglong." He gave Emma a rolled-up piece of paper. "I was told that if a girl came by, I was to give her this."

Emma bowed. "Thank you, Captain Shang."

Mulan waved at the Senshi. "Goodbye, guys!"

… … …

"What's the paper say, Emma?" Robin asked. "Anythin' worth havin'? If not, we could always sue Cap'n Crunch back there."

Emma unrolled the paper, and stared at it. "It says 'Tokumei' at the top. And there are holes on the left side…it looks like this is a page from someone's journal."

Sora looked up from his new Hidden Dragon Keyblade. "Like Ansem's Report?"

"It's probably something like that," Emma agreed.

Jake jumped up and down. "Read it! Read it!"

_You know, I always thought that diaries were for girls. And I assure you, I'm definitely not a girl. But…I want people to know about what I'm going to do. Just in case people forget me, and there's nobody else to tell my story…I want to tell it myself._

_There was talk of a prophecy…a prophecy that darkness will swallow up the worlds. It's something about some kids coming into the game and…oh, yeah! Get this! We all live in a game that hasn't even been invented yet! I don't entirely get it, and I don't particularly care. Anyway, some kids are going to come into the game so they can stop the darkness, along with some other kids from this universe. Whoo-hoo._

_Have you ever heard of King Mickey and King Ansem? They're kind of strange, but I like them. King Mickey is a mouse. Yeah, a mouse. The way the guy sounds, you'd think he was weaned on helium. King Ansem is obsessed with sea-salt ice cream. It's scary how much he loves it. It's like oxygen to him. They've heard about the prophecy, and they want to make sure it comes true, so the worlds stay safe. Ansem's got a back-up plan; he and his assistants are studying the darkness, to see if it can be used to their advantage. Good luck with that, old man._

_Mickey is considerably smarter, and decided to send three people from the game universe to the real world. Those poor saps have to make sure everything goes right, and keep an eye on the kids. Guess what?_

_I'm one of those poor saps._

_Who are the two other people? One of them is a kitsune. A fox demon. The darkness chewed up her world and spat it back out, like, ten years ago. I hear she's sixty years old, but she looks sixteen. She lived in Traverse Town at the time. The other person was an Ivalician, from the town of Cyril, and an infamous thief. Getting sent to the real world is her punishment. She doesn't want to leave Ivalice; she likes the attention, the dumb broad._

_Who am I, you might ask? I'd rather keep that classified. However, I don't want to be called "that crazy guy who's got a diary", so you, my dear reader, can call me Tokumei, "the anonymous one". It's got a nice ring to it, huh? Heh-heh. Well, I'm going to the real world tomorrow. Wish me luck._

Emma kept her eyes glued to the paper. "His writing style…and the fact that he had to go to the real world…" She looked up. "Guys…I think Tokumei is my dad."


	4. The Gullwings

"Your dad?" Sora repeated. "Are you sure Tokumei is your dad, Emma?"

Emma slowly shook her head. "Not completely…but I think he is."

Jake excitedly took the paper from Emma's limp hands. "Maybe we'll find other pages of the Tokumei Report in other worlds!"

Dia nodded, reading over her little brother's head. "Let's hope so."

Robin sympathetically patted Emma's shoulder. "Good luck widdat, Emma. We gotta go. But we'll be back, ya can count on it."

"Why are you leaving so soon?" Bernie asked.

Sim chuckled. "Beast's Castle is the next world, remember? That place is boooooring."

Emma sighed and put the first page of the Tokumei Report in her pocket. "Don't remind me."

Robin headed to the back of the Phoenix, followed by the rest of the Ino Senshi. "Nice meetin' ya, Kaze an' Roxas."

Kaze nodded. "You too, Robin-chan!"

"Yeah, I guess…" Roxas murmured. Once the Ino Senshi had left, he sighed. "Sora, do you mind being…incomplete?"

Sora turned around. "What? Oh. Not really. To be honest, I can't really feel a difference. It's not like I feel I'm missing something."

"Good."

"I know what you're thinking, Roxas; don't worry." Sora smiled. "Nobody's going to make you join with me if you don't want to."

"AW, MAN! YER RIGHT, DIA!" The Ino Senshi stomped back to the main part of the cockpit. "The save point ain't workin'!" Robin lamented. "Max, can ya drop us off at Hollow Bastion, or somethin'?"

Max nodded. "I was going to go there while the Juu Senshi were at Beast's Castle, anyway." He pressed a button, and the Phoenix glided toward Hollow Bastion.

… … …

"Do you think there's a hotel here?" The Ino Senshi were standing in the Hollow Bastion marketplace. Sim looked clearly irritated. "We'll have to sleep somewhere while we're stuck in the game, won't we?"

Robin shrugged. "Even if there was, we'd hafta pay. I say we mooch offa Merlin, or one 'a those Final Fantasy guys."

"Merlin's probably our best bet," Neassa decided. "Let's pay him a little visit."

The Ino Senshi and Max trooped down a flight of stairs. "Pick me up when you're done, okay?" he called over his shoulder. "And take care of the Phoenix! It costs good munny to fix it!"

Dia put her head in her hands. "Great…we're going to Beast's Castle now, right?" she grunted.

Emma grinned. "There's nothing of importance to do there, right? Just killing Xaldin. But we can kill him somewhere else, right?"

The other Juu Senshi grinned back. "Emma, I like the way you think." Dia clapped her stepsister on the back. "Where to, then?"

"It's a surprise. Oh, I almost forgot!" Emma took 2400 munny out of her pocket, and gave it to Sora. "Can you do me a favor?"

Sora cringed. "You want me to go buy Beetle-" He quickly covered his mouth. "I mean, you want me to go buy BJ some porn magazines, right?" Emma nodded, prompting Sora to slap himself in the face. "Fine…but you owe me extra for making me degrade myself." The Senshi laughed loudly as Sora walked away.

… … …

"AAAAAAAAAAGH! SORA, WATCH IT!" Jake yelped.

The Phoenix was barreling through Stardust Sweep, crashing into various obstacles. "I'm sorry! I've never had to drive through this much junk before!" He heaved a sigh of relief once the ship flew through the glowing keyhole. "Thank goodness." He looked out the window, and grinned. "We're going to be here next? Great! Time to disembark!" He looked around the dashboard. "Uh…which button is it, again?"

Donald rolled his eyes. "The big, red one."

"Oh." Sora banged his fist on the disembark button, and the Senshi disappeared.

… … …

"Robin's going to be so mad that we're here," Dia tittered to herself. "All of the Ino Senshi, actually."

Bernie stared at her surroundings with wide-open eyes. "Whoa…we're in Kilika!"

The Senshi were standing on a dock in the center of a sunny, seaside village. Emma laughed. "I told you that we came to Spira last year."

"Yeah, but I didn't think that I'D get to be here!" Bernie looked around some more, then emitted a shrill noise and pointed at the sky. "That's the Celsius! We're going to meet Yuna!"

The other Senshi gave her odd looks. "Well, I guess this is Bernie's third personality," Riku remarked. "Maternal, violent, and rabid gamer."

A gigantic, red airship floated down and landed at the end of the dock. A ramp extended out of a door. "All right! Concert time!" a voice cheered. Three skimpily-dressed teenage girls ran down the ramp. They were followed by three blonde men, and a short boy who was wearing something resembling a diving suit, complete with a helmet. One of the girls, another blonde, stopped abruptly and pointed at the Senshi. "Yunie! It's them!"

Yuna glanced at her. "Who?" She followed Rikku's finger with her gaze. "Oh! Paine, come on!" The third teenager, a gothic-looking girl with red eyes, shrugged and followed Yuna and Rikku down the ramp.

"Hey, Yuna! Rikku!" Sora waved as they approached, then looked them over. "Well, you guys look…different…"

Yuna briefly touched her now-spiky hair. "Well, we're sphere hunters now, so we've got to dress for the job!"

Paine snorted. "Yeah, being scantily-clad's in the job description," she said sarcastically.

Yuna turned slightly red. "Paine, meet my old part-time guardians! This is Sora, Donald, Goofy, Emma, Dia, Jake, Riku, Kairi, and…?"

"That's Bernie, Kaze, and Roxas," Kairi filled in. "Nice to meet you, Paine!"

Paine nodded. "Thanks for keeping Yuna safe."

Rikku quickly shook all of their hands. "Wow, it seems like yesterday that we saw you guys! But I guess it's only been a month."

"Didn't you say Final Fantasy X-2 supposed to start two years after Final Fantasy X?" Sora whispered to Emma.

Emma nodded. "I guess this is the in-between period."

The men and the boy also walked down the ramp. "Yuna!" one of them called in a heavy Al Bhed accent. "Who are these people? Are they giving you trouble? They look shady! Stay away from Yuna!" he yelled at the Senshi.

Rikku rolled her eyes. "Brother, cdub paehk cu bynyhuet, fuimt oui? Drao'na uin vneahtc."

Brother cocked his head to one side. "Vneahtc? Vneahtc uv Yuna? E fyhd du caa!"

Yuna gestured to the males as they ran down the ramp. "This is Brother. He's the leader of the Gullwings, our sphere-hunting group."

"Yuna's friends are my friends!"

"This is our pilot, Buddy," Yuna continued.

An African-American-looking man wearing goggles held up his hand. "Hey."

"This is Shinra, the Al Bhed wiz kid."

"I know everything," Shinra, the boy in the suit, boasted.

"And this is our repairman, Sa-"

"Sadym!" The Senshi ran over to him. "How are you doing?" Bernie asked.

Sadym saluted them and grinned. "Great! Have you seen Lyze yet?"

Donald shook his head. "No. The only other worlds we've been to so far are Twilight Town, Hollow Bastion, and Land of Dragons."

"Oh. Well, if you see her, tell her that I said hi!"

Yuna smiled at the Senshi and Sadym. "You guys know each other?"

"Karson and I helped them out pretty recently. We were with them before we came back to Spira." Sadym looked back at Sora. "Since we've been gone, there's been a lot of trouble. Spira's pretty much been divided into three groups; The Youth League wants to learn about Spira's past, since some of the knowledge has been hidden until now. New Yevon is made up of the Yevonites who still stick with their religion, even after what happened with Sin. Everyone else just wants the fighting to stop. The Machine Faction is technically a fourth group, but they're pretty much just a bunch of Al Bheds who run an excavation business in the Bikanel Desert. They've gotten all of Spira to use machina for everyday things, even New Yevon." He grinned again. "So, what are you guys doing here?"

Emma glanced both ways, then motioned for Sadym to come closer. "Since I can change the game and all, I decided to come to Spira instead of a mind-numbingly boring castle," she whispered. "And it's already a lot more fun in Spira." Her voice level returned to normal. "So, what are YOU guys doing here?"

"Well, the Youth League's searching for spheres that can teach them about Spira's past. Karson joined up with them, and he told me that New Yevon's got this sphere. Nobody's sure what it's about, but as sphere hunters, us Gullwings want to see it!"

Yuna nodded. "And if we don't need it, we could always sell it for lots of gil!"

"How do we get this sphere, Yuna-chan?" Kaze asked.

Paine raised an eyebrow. "We?"

Roxas gave the Gullwings a thumbs-up. "We want to help you!"

Yuna, Rikku, and Paine exchanged looks. "All right!" Rikku agreed. "We could use some help! We'd have to storm the Bevelle Temple to get it, though…the Yevonites won't let anyone who's not part of New Yevon in."

Goofy scratched his head. "Wait, if the temple's in Bevelle, then, uh, why are we in Kilika?"

"To get me, of course!" A man with flaming red hair walked up, grinning from ear to prosthetic ear. "How're you guys doing?"

Jake squealed and rapidly poked Karson's arm. "You're all fleshy!"

"And not wearing a shirt," Dia added. "What's up with that?"

"I don't particularly want my weapons ripping through my clothes."

"What weapons? The gaudy necklace, which might I add, would make you look very feminine if you weren't so buff?"

"Yep," Karson replied. He pressed down a ruby in the center of a pendant around his neck, which turned out to be a button. A compartment on his human-looking arm opened, and revealed a laser cannon.

Dia raised her hands defensively. "Fine, Karson, I understand why you're not wearing a shirt. Don't shoot me."

Karson pressed the button again, and the cannon retracted. "And there's more where that came from."

"Calm down!" Rikku whined. "Fight New Yevon, not each other!"

Jake shook his head. "Don't worry. We always do this!"

Brother motioned for the Gullwings and the Senshi to get back on the Celsius. "You come now! We are flying to Bevelle!"

… … …

The Celsius landed by the colorful Bevelle Temple. "Here we are!" Yuna announced. She ran down the ramp, followed by Rikku, Paine, the Senshi, Sadym, and Karson. "We'll be right back!" she told the other Gullwings.

Brother nodded. "Remember, Yuna! If things go disasterrific, you come RIGHT back!"

Yuna smiled. "Of course."

"I still find it incredibly disturbing that your cousin is in love with you," Dia mumbled to Yuna.

"I try to ignore it," Yuna whispered back.

"And you're not helping with that," Paine added.

A tanned boy around the Gullwing girls' age, although he had white hair, walked out of the temple. "The high summoner. It's a pleasure to see you." He nodded to Rikku, Paine, Sadym, and Karson, then glanced over at the Senshi. "Who are your companions?"

"Sora."

"Donald."

"Goofy."

"Emma."

"Dia."

"Jake."

"Riku."

"Kairi."

"Bernie."

"Roxas."

"Kaze. Huh, Sona-chan was right. This is getting annoying already."

"I am the praetor of New Yevon, Baralai." He did the Spiran Prayer; having become accustomed to it, the Senshi gracefully repeated the bow. "What is the reason for your visit?"

"Can we see the sphere? Pretty please?" Rikku chirped.

Baralai's indifferent expression suddenly hardened. "No. It is for New Yevon's viewing alone."

Yuna took out her guns, Rikku took out her pointy…things…and Paine took out her sword. "Sorry, Baralai, but we're sphere hunters," Yuna announced. "We have to see the sphere."

"You honestly want to fight me, Lady Yuna? It's really a trivial thing to be provoked by." None of the Gullwings sheathed their weapons. "Fine. It's a fight." He took out a large staff, and several Dragoon Nobodies appeared.

"Whoa! Are those Heartless, too?" Yuna asked, jumping back a little.

Emma shook her head. "No, but they're close. Just attack the ones that threaten you! Aim for Baralai! GINGKO!" Her eyes and shirt turned beige, and she summoned her bow and arrow.

"Where's Xaldin?" Sora demanded inbetween slashes.

Baralai parried a few hits, then swiped at Sora's legs, causing him to trip. "Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you! He let me control his Nobodies so I could protect the sphere, then he left! I can't let you see the sphere!"

"Good for you," Riku grunted, whacking Baralai repeatedly with the Soul Eater.

Emma shot an arrow at Baralai, aiming for one of the leather straps on his robe. Vines sprung out of the arrowhead and wrapped theirselves tightly around the praetor. "NOW can we see the sphere?"

"Of course not!" Baralai yelled.

The Senshi glanced at each other, and shrugged. "Who cares? You're a little tied up at the moment," Kaze reminded him. The Senshi, the Gullwings, and Karson ran into the temple.

… … …

A bunch of Yevonites were scurrying around, as if looking for something. "Where is he?" a man yelled frantically.

"Where is who?" Yuna asked as she and the others entered.

The man bowed quickly. "Good morning, Lady Yuna! It appears someone has stolen a sphere from us. We didn't even have the chance to watch it!"

Rikku made upset pawing movements at the air. "So you don't know what it's about?" The man shook his head. "Oh, poopie!"

"Would you please get the sphere back for us?" the man pleaded. "Some witnesses said that a man wearing a black cloak ran out of the temple shortly after the theft. If you tracked him down, you'd have a good chance of finding that sphere!"

"Xaldin!" Jake yelled.

"So this Xaldin guy helped Baralai protect the sphere from us, then stole it himself? This guy seems shiftier than everyone in New Yevon combined," Paine muttered.

"We'll get that sphere back!" Emma told him. "But as thanks for what we're doing, can we watch it once we get it?"

The man looked uncomfortable, then sighed. "All right, you can see it. Just don't tell anyone."

Yuna bowed. "Thank you. Do you know which direction the man went in?"

"He went toward the Macalania Woods, south of the temple. You'd better hurry if you want to catch him!"

… … …

"Well, we've definitely had better times," Dia murmured to the other Senshi. "I'm not saying that I'm sorry to be back in Spira, but it's not too interesting here."

Emma shrugged. "I forgot that this would be the inbetween time, not Final Fantasy X-2."

"That's okay, but wouldn't Midgar or Balamb or Alexandria have been more fun? Even Ivalice would have been good."

"I can't change the fact that we're here now, Dia. I'll see about going to some other Final Fantasy worlds later."

"That's all I ask."

"Hey!" Rikku pointed to a black blur in the distance. "Was that the Xaldin guy?"

Everyone took out their weapons. "Let's hope it was! CHARGE!" Sora called, running towards the spring with the Hidden Dragon outstretched.

By the time the cloaked man had reached the water, the Senshi and the Gullwings were right behind him. "Give us the sphere, Xaldin!" Yuna yelled.

Xaldin turned around slowly, then pulled his hood back with a smirk. "I was waiting to see when you would show up. Your ability to change things is impressive, elementalist, but we of Organization XIII are quick. The moment a new world showed up, I was dispatched to go there and intercept you."

"If you'd be so kind as to summon a boss, have us beat it, then conveniently drop the sphere, we'd be very appreciative," Emma told him in an impatient tone. "We have other things on our to-do list."

"Conveniently dropping the sphere, I can't assure you of. Now, a fight…THAT I can arrange." Xaldin snapped his fingers, and disappeared.

Roxas rubbed his eyes. "Is…is that a floating ball of water?"

Yuna flinched. "It's an Amorphous Gel!"

"A what?"

"A weird, jello-like thing that can reduce you to 1 HP in a single smash," Emma told him nervously. "It moves slowly, but it goes quickly when it's attacking."

Donald scoffed. "So?"

Bernie bit her lip. "Don't you remember? You were safe in the real world, but when you faint in the game…"

"You die," the game characters repeated stiffly.

Sadym and Karson, however, weren't worried. "No problem! Game or not, we're in Spira!" Sadym proudly showed the others a bag full of red-and-gold feathers. "Phoenix Down!"

"Are you sure it works, Sadym-kun?" Kaze asked tentatively.

"No, but it's worth a try, isn't it? The only problem is…what if the Amorphous Gel kills us all? Who's going to revive us?"

Sora grinned. "The second-to-last time we came to Spira, we went to the Farplane, and got killed by a Darkside Heartless, but Emma, Dia, and Jake were still alive because they're real-worlders! If we die, they'll save us!"

"And if we run out of Phoenix Downs, I can use the Cure Stone!" Emma added. "You've got ethers, right?" Yuna, who was looking utterly confused about the bit concerning the game, held up another bag, presumably full of ethers. "Great! Let's go!"

Sadym took out a walkie-talkie. "Sadym du Celsius! Lyh oui pnehk so nevma?"

There was a beeping noise, and Brother's voice replied, "Ouin nevma? Ruf ys E cibbucat du ghuf frana ouin nevma ec? Yht fro ys E ouin annyht puo!"

"Palyica fa'na paehk yddylgat po yh Amorphous Gel, dryd'c fro! Fa haat ymm dra bufan fa lyh kad!" Sadym snapped back. "Huf, so nevma ec uh so pat! Yht ev oui tuh'd kad ed drec caluht, E'mm pa cina du cruud oui pavuna Yuna sends sa!" There was silence. "Dryd sayhc E's kuehk du gemm oui yvdan dra Amorphous Gel gemmc sa, oui yenrayt!" Brother's frantic steps could be heard from the other end of the walkie-talkie. Sadym rolled his eyes and looked at his allies. "I'll be in charge of healing you guys, I guess…I doubt Brother's going to bring my rifle."

Karson pressed the button on his pendant, and the cannon came out of his arm. "I love using this," he commented as he shot several lasers at the Amorphous Gel.

Some orbs came out of the Amorphous Gel. "Aren't those Drive Orbs?" Sora asked. He didn't wait for an answer, and collected them. "Goofy, let's Drive!"

Goofy looked around. "Uh, I don't see a car anywhere."

"I meant that we should try using Valor Form," Sora corrected with a sigh. "I should have enough orbs to use it by now." After Goofy ha-yucked at himself, he disappeared, and Sora was left in his red outfit. "Is Goofy in my clothes, or something?"

"I don't know. Who cares, anyway? Just attack the Amorphous Gel!" Jake urged him.

Sora took spun the Hidden Dragon and the Starseeker out, and slashed at the creature with inhuman speed. He must have made it angry, because it crushed him within seconds. "Ow...I forgot how it feels to be this low on health," he lamented. Still, he got back on his feet and resumed his battle with the Amorphous Gel.

The next few minutes was both annoying and terrifying for the Senshi. The Amorphous Gel would kill Sora, causing everyone to shudder. Sadym would then revive him, and Sora would continually go back into Valor Form by using the Drive Orbs that the Amorphous Gel dropped every so often. Then, Sora would be killed yet again. Finally, it was Sora who got to do the killing as he finished off the boss. He and Goofy separated. "Gawrsh, that was scary!" Goofy yelped.

Sora nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I wouldn't want to be killed with Goofy in my clothes."

"I don't think that's how it works, Sora…but we wouldn't want either of you to be killed," Dia chuckled.

Rikku whined and stomped around a little. "We didn't get to do any fighting!"

"If we did, we'd be constantly dying." Paine reminded her. Rikku immediately became silent.

Xaldin reappeared, holding the sphere. "Well done, Keyblade Master." He let it slip, and Sora caught it.

"Why are you giving to us?" Emma asked suspiciously.

"I didn't give it to you; I conveniently dropped it," Xaldin retorted sarcastically before disappearing once again.

The Senshi, the Gullwings, and Karson all huddled up. "Watch it!" Yuna instructed.

A man who looked eerily similar to Taylor was shown in the blurry sphere. The only differences were that he had curved, spiky bangs with red dye at the tips, and he was wearing a black cloak. "This message is for the Juu Senshi. If you're not them, then ignore these words. They are not meant for you. Besides, you probably wouldn't even understand the message, you ignorant fools."

"He's gotta be Lotrayx," Dia murmured. "What a stark contrast."

Lotrayx smirked. "You think your little friends are safe because you've changed a few things around. I ask you this; do you value one member more than another? Would you risk anything to save Axel? Would you trade Donald and Goofy for Riku and Kairi? Would you give Sora away to keep Roxas? Just because you've got all your allies at the moment does not mean that we won't come for them. Know that." The transmission ended.

Paine raised an eyebrow. "Did you get that?"

Emma nodded slowly. "Sorry, guys, but we've got to go."

Yuna nodded. "We know. You must be busy."

"We'll return the sphere to the Bevelle Temple…even if they won't have a use for it." Sora left with the other Senshi.

… … …

The man greedily took the sphere and pocketed it. "Thank you. Did you watch it?"

"Yes," the Senshi all responded.

Baralai entered briskly, glaring at them. "I see you have caught the-"

"Rescuers?" Dia supplied happily. "We got your precious sphere back for you."

"What? You mean you weren't the ones who stole it?"

The man shook his head. "No, these kind people took it from the real culprit, and returned it."

"Xaldin took it. Not so trustworthy after all, was he? Besides, the sphere was addressed to us. Lo…er…the guy who filmed it…planted it here so we could find it. But we brought it back to you Yevonites, because we're nice like that."

Baralai bowed his head. "I suppose I misjudged you all. If the sphere was truly addressed to you, you deserve these as well. They were found nearby." He gave Sora a keychain and an orb, and he gave Emma a sheet of paper. "Have a safe journey." He and the man went into an inner chamber of the temple.

Sora squinted at the keychain; there was a clear blue ball at the end. "What? Am I supposed to be rewarded with a keychain of the creature that killed me at least five times today?" The other Senshi chuckled.

… … …

"Read it! Read it!" Kairi chanted as the Senshi were beamed back onto the Phoenix.

Emma sat down and straightened the second page of the Tokumei Report. "It's a good thing that whoever's leaving these for me is giving them in order."

_Well, this is going to be a rough ride. Briara, the Ivalician thief, and Tolea, the kitsune, and I all have to get settled and pretend to be real-worlders. We'll be living in Chicago, the Windy City. It's actually not that windy. Whoever called it that is an airhead._

_Heh. Airhead. Windy City._

_Fine, don't laugh._

_Anyway, Briara and I got jobs and apartments (ugh), and Tolea's just laying low. Due to her extended lifespan, she'll be looking sixteen for quite a while, so she'll just go to whatever high school the prophecy kid is going to once they're at that age._

_My apartment is so little. Briara's on the floor below me, and I haven't got a clue where Tolea's gone. There's this really nice woman next door to me, Miss Rodgers. She's helping me get used to the real world…but she thinks she's actually helping an immigrant get used to the States. I said I was from Belgium. I'm not sure where that is, but I hear it's got great chocolate._

_Briara's already got a boyfriend, to top off all the weirdness. He apparently finds her insane kleptomania refreshing. I forget his name…I just remember that he had a funny last name that started with a Q. Quigley…Quagmire…I think it was Quinn, or something. Briara keeps pestering me about asking Miss Rodgers on a date. Yeesh. Not everyone can get hooked up in two days, woman!_

_I still don't know where Tolea is._

Dia was tugging at her hair. "TOLEA? TOLEA IS THE KITSUNE?"

Emma put the Tokumei Report 2 down. "That's weird…but it explains how she knew that your mom was from Ivalice, right?"

"I guess…hey, shouldn't we be picking Max up now?"

Sora nodded, and got behind the Phoenix's wheel. "By the way, Emma, it was your idea to give me this, wasn't it?" He held up the keychain with the Amorphous Gel on the end. "What exactly was the purpose of that?"

"It's called the Macalania Keyblade. It makes you a lot stronger. I just think the Amorphous Gel looks cool," Emma admitted.

"Whatever. But I'm going to get chills whenever I look at the keychain again."

… … …

"Max! Ino Senshi! We're back!" Jake called as he entered Merlin's house with the other Juu Senshi members.

Robin looked up. "Oh. Hey. How'd doin' Beast's Castle go?"

The Juu Senshi laughed amongst theirselves. "Decent," Sora announced. "Where's Max?"

"He's trainin' wit' Merlin an' Aldwyndain."

Max ran through the door. "Guys! Guess what?"

The Senshi looked him over, he was wearing a teal shirt and matching puffy pants, and a dark blue cape. "You joined the circus?" Dia guessed.

"What? No!" Max proudly showed them a long, wooden staff. "I'm a Blue Mage now!"

Roxas scratched his head. "Which is…?"

Bernie clapped excitedly. "It's a Final Fantasy job where if you get hit by an enemy's attack, and you survive it, you get to use it! Does this mean you'll be fighting with us?"

Goofy hugged his son, prompting Max to turn red and glare upwards. "That's great, Maxie! Now we'll be able to spend loads of time together!"

"Let go of me, Dad," Max begged him with a muffled voice. Goofy stopped clamping onto him. "Where are we going next?"

"Olympus Coliseum," Emma told him. She turned to the Ino Senshi. "Do you guys want to come?"

Sim shook her head. "Nah, we just want to relax a little bit. We're not as used to doing this as you guys are." The Juu Senshi nodded and left.

… … …

"So, is the costume a requirement to be a Blue Mage?" Riku joked, gesturing to Max's outfit.

Max rolled his eyes. "Hey, at least I don't have to wear the hat. It's got this huge feather coming out of it."

A few feet away, Meg was trying to evade some Rabid Dog Heartless, tripping in the process. "Okay, those are some weird Heartless," Kaze commented. He lightly kicked the Rabid Dogs, and they scurried away. "That was easy."

Meg slowly stood up. "And you're supposed to be?"

The Senshi sighed as they had to go through the introduction process all over again. "Sora…"

"Donald…"

"Goofy…"

"Emma…"

"Dia…"

"Jake…"

"Riku…"

"Kairi…"

"Bernie…"

"Roxas…"

"Kaze…"

"Max."

"We came to see how Hercules was doing," Sora explained.

Meg glanced at them all. "You know Wonderboy?" The Senshi nodded. "Looks like we have a friend in common. Name's Megara. My friends call me Meg. Anyway, Wonderboy's duking it out at the Coliseum every day. You know, "a hero's work is never done" and all that. He's ready to drop, but he keeps on fighting. Even Wonderboy has his limits, though. These opponents are bad news. Special deliveries from Hades himself…I was on my way to see him. Maybe I can get him to give Wonderboy a breather.

"We'll go have a little talk with Hades for you," Sora volunteered. "We'd hate for anything to happen to you on your way to see him."

"Really?" Meg looked surprised, but relieved. "Well, it looks like you know what you're doing. I guess I'll take you up on that offer."

… … …

"RUN! RUN AWAAAAAAAAAAY!" a cloaked man cried, running through the Inner Chamber.

Kairi barely suppressed a laugh. "That was Demyx, right?"

"Yep. Too bad he'll be the first to die."

"Not if you count Marluxia, Larxene, Vexen, Zexion, and Lexaeus," Donald reminded her.

"Hey, isn't Auron in this world?" Sora asked. The real-worlders nodded. "Do you think he'll remember us?"

"The Final Fantasy characters in the Kingdom Hearts worlds are totally different. I doubt it," Bernie said sadly.

"But you told us that he was exactly like the FFX Auron, except for the sunglasses!"

Dia shrugged. "Still, he's probably not the same guy we met. It would be nice if he was, though."

… … …

"Where do they dig these freaks up? Geez, Louise!" Hades grumbled.

Pete and Etoile were standing near his throne. "Yeah, they're complete ragoverths, but it's tough to fix stupidity. You would know, huh, tardmuffin?"

Pete glared at her, then looked back at Hades. "So, uh...what're you gonna do about Hercules? He's made mince meat outta every fighter you sent at him. Pretty soon the Underworld's gonna be standing room only. Say, why don't you just pick somebody already dead and save him the trouble?"

Hades banged his fist on one of the throne's arms; Pain and Panic hid behind a column, Pete covered his head, and Etoile just blankly watched. "Dead…dead is good!" Hades decided. "And I know just the warrior!" He walked over to a swirling, green vortex. "This time, I'm bringing out the mother of all bad guys!"

Pete started to back away. "You don't say! Well…maybe I should go."

"Stay," Etoile ordered him sharply. "Or you'll have answer to much more than some dead punk."

Hades tossed two balls of fire into the abyss. A pillar of red smoke floated out of the hole, and a figure emerged from it. Hades laughed. "Let's cut to the chase. Here's the deal I'm gonna offer you: I let you out of the slammer. No strings. You'll be as free as a bird! And all for one little job. Fight Hercules, in the coliseum…to the death!"

Auron smirked at him. "This is my story. And you're not part of it." He took out his sword.

"Did you forget who you're talking to?" Hades yelled at him. "I am the Lord of the DEAD!"

"No wonder no one wants to die," Auron murmured.

"YOU ARE FIRED!" Hades turned red, and charged toward the swordsman.

At that moment, the Senshi ran in. "Hades!" Donald called.

Hades's skin and fire returned to blue. "You again?"

Emma reluctantly waved at Auron. "Er…hey! Remember us?"

Auron turned around, and his eyes widened a little bit. "Emma?"


	5. Get Up on the Hydra's Back!

"Emma?" Auron repeated. He looked at the other Senshi. "Sora…Donald…Goofy…Riku…and Kairi! And…some other people." He tilted his head down and smiled a little. "Good to know there's at least people with intact sanity down here." He quickly brought his head up again. "Have you seen Yuna?"

"About half an hour ago, actually. She's fine," Sora assured him. "She's trying to find Tidus, since the Fayths were allowed to go to sleep."

"I see."

Etoile crossed her thin arms, gazing distastefully at everyone in the area. "Can we either fight them or leave now, Hades? Being in the presence of all these L7s is making me feel a little sick," she complained. Pete was still cowering in a corner.

Hades materialized two fireballs. "I agree!"

"Run away. Now," Auron mumbled.

Sora looked confused. "We can take him on easily! And besides, I have to ask Hades something!"

"We're weaker here," Dia told him. "We can't fight him like this."

"What? Why?"

Hades smirked. "In the Underworld, heroes are zeros. Comes with the territory."

"But-"

"THE GUY SAID NO!" Max yelled frantically as Hades threw the fireballs at them. The Senshi and Auron hurried back to the Inner Chamber, batting at the Heartless that impeded them.

… … …

"What do you mean, we're weaker in the Underworld?" Sora panted, leaning against the chamber's wall. "We still kicked Heartless butt!"

Emma shook her head. "We could fight Heartless, but we can't fight Hades. You can't use Drive Form here, and I probably can't use my stones. We're relatively helpless without both."

Auron sheathed the Masamune. "Who are your new friends?" he asked.

"I'm Bernie, and they're Roxas, Kaze, and Max!" Bernie chirped. "Nice to meet you, Sir Auron!"

For some reason, Auron looked sad. "Don't give me what I don't deserve. It's just Auron."

"Why aren't you in the Farplane, Auron?" Donald wondered. "Spira's nowhere near here!"

Auron shrugged. "I have no idea…but I'm to assume that Hades struck a deal with someone in Spira to have me placed here instead. And seeing as only the Guado are knowledgeable on how the Farplane works, it must have been-"

"Seymour," Riku grumbled. "He must have put in his will that you should be handed over to Hades. He probably didn't want Yuna and those guys to see you ever again. Psychotic old man-lady."

"We'd better get out of here, and back to the Olympus Coliseum," Dia suggested. "We'll be stronger there."

… … …

"I miss Auron," Bernie wailed.

Dia scratched her head. "He just had to stop Cerberus from attacking us. He'll be back, remember?"

The Senshi walked into the daylight of the Olympus Coliseum. "Gawrsh, this sure does bring back old memories!" Goofy remarked happily.

Hercules wobbled out of the Coliseum; he was clearly ready to drop. However, he lightened up when he saw three of the Senshi. "Sora! Donald! Goofy! When did you get here?"

"Not too long ago. These are our friends, Emma, Dia, Jake, Riku, Kairi, Bernie, Roxas, Kaze, and Max. Emma was with us last time we were here, but she never came to the Coliseum."

"Nice to meet all of you! Are you on another adventure?" Sora grinned and nodded proudly. "Junior heroes, always busy!"

"We've got some business to take care of in the Underworld, but that place drains our strength. Do you have any ideas on how to stay strong?"

Hercules thought for a moment, then smacked his fist into his other hand. "The Olympus Stone! Of course!"

"Can we use it, then?" Max asked.

"Sure! I'll go get it for you. But Hades is no pushover, even if you've got the Olympus Stone. And I have a match today, so I can't go with you…know what you need? Training! Why don't you go talk to Phil?"

Donald crossed his arms. "Fine. But I don't think we'll need it."

… … …

Sora and Emma trudged out of the arena a few minutes later. "Well, that was probably one of the most pointless things in the game so far," Sora commented.

"Just wait until we've got to sing," Emma grumbled.

Hercules ran up to them, looking upset. "Sorry guys, but…the Olympus Stone has been stolen. We don't know who did it yet. All we're sure of is that it was a guy in a black, hooded cloak. And he had accomplices; a bunch of creatures in white."

"Organization XIII and the Nobodies," Kaze announced. "We'll get it back for you, Hercules-kun!"

"Thanks. By the way, you guys haven't seen Meg around, have you?" The Senshi shook their heads. "Oh…okay."

Hades appeared behind Hercules in a puff of smoke. "What's wrong, your hero-ness? Feeling under the weather? You know, I though staying in perfect shape was part of the hero job description...you know what I'm saying?" Hercules scowled at him. "Anyway, I came to share a bit of mildly interesting news: seems your dear, sweet little Nutmeg went and got herself lost in the Underworld."

Hercules clenched his fists angrily. "You mean you kidnapped her!"

"Well, maybe…but why get caught up in the details?" Hades quickly held up his hand as Hercules started to whistle for Pegasus. "Uh-uh-uh! You can't leave now, okay? You've got a very important match today, against, um...the bloodthirsty Hydra! I mean, if you don't stick around, who knows what kind of 'accidents' might happen."

"Yeah, accidents you cause!" Sora yelled at him.

Hades shrugged indifferently. "Like I said: details, who needs 'em?"

"You're just a coward," Hercules spat.

"Ah, well. Can't all be heroes." Hades promptly disappeared.

Bernie smiled warmly at Hercules, who was steaming. "We'll take care of this," she assured him. "You just worry about fighting the Hydra, and we'll get Meg back while we get the Olympus Stone back."

Hercules smiled back. "I'm counting on you guys."

… … …

"Man, this Underworld curse is really getting to me," Sora lamenting, rubbing his shoulder as he and the rest of the Senshi walked into the Atrium. "Huh?"

A man in a black cloak turned around as soon as he heard Sora speak. "Wait a sec…Roxas?"

Dia slapped herself in the face. "No, dummy, THIS is Roxas!"

Roxas waved awkwardly. "Hi."

The man pulled his hood back. "Roxas! It really is you!"

"Yeah. And you are?"

Demyx sighed heavily. "You really don't remember me?" Roxas shook his head. "It's no use…"

"We're sort of using Roxas at the moment, do you mind?" Riku asked testily.

"Yeah, I do!" Demyx crossed his arms. "I have an order to bring Roxas back with me! But, ah…Lotrayx said that he and the Superior'd be willing to trade him for another one of you guys." His eyes wandered across the crowd of people. "I wouldn't mind taking her," he added, pointing to Bernie. Bernie bared her teeth and growled, so he took a few steps backward. "Whoa! Easy, girl! I'll just take Roxas." He took out a small piece of paper. "Let's see here. 'If the subject fails to respond, use aggression to liberate his true disposition.' Right. Did they ever pick the wrong guy for this one…"

Sora rolled his eyes. "You're bizarre."

Demyx just shrugged took out the Olympus Stone; it glowed for a moment, and Demyx seemed to relax a little. "Dance, water, dance!" Before Demyx could start playing his sitar, Bernie stomped up to him and locked her eyes with his. "Oh, you change your mind? Fine with me!" he decided perkily.

Bernie narrowed her eyes. "One good this about this not being a game anymore? There's normally not a 'kick the boss where the sun doesn't shine' button." She swiftly kicked Demyx in the crotch. "And now there is."

"All right, that REALLY hurt," Demyx whimpered as he dropped to his knees.

"Stay away from me, and you won't hurt anymore," Bernie told him stiffly. "Now go away."

Demyx leaned on his sitar so he could get back on his feet. He looked up at Sora's Nobody. "Roxas…come back to us!" After that, he teleported away.

The Senshi were silent for a moment. "You're very entertaining to be around, aren't you?" Max commented finally.

… … …

"And I have to unlock this?" Sora clarified as he walked up to a large rock with an outline of Meg and a keyhole on it. The real-worlders nodded. "But won't it be bad if I unlock the Underdrome?" The real-worlders shrugged. "Okay." Sora held out the Macalania Keyblade, and unlocked the stadium.

Jake squealed and ran into the now-green pillar of light that sprouted behind where the rock was moments ago. "Let's go save Meg!"

When the Senshi emerged in the Underdrome, they saw Hades and Meg waiting there; Hades was smirking, and Meg was chained up. "Now that's what I call a key. Gee, thanks for your help! Now have a nice day." He disappeared again when he was done.

"Guys! Behind you!" Meg warned.

Pete was standing in back of them with a troupe of Hook Bats on either side of him. He laughed loudly. "What's wrong? Can't fight in the Underworld? Well, boo-hoo-hoo!"

The Senshi took out their weapons. "Better think again!" Sora spun the Keyblade, and destroyed several Hook Bats with one swing.

"Quake!" Dia yelled. The ground shuddered; rocks materialized theirselves, and were hurled at Pete. "Neat, it worked!"

Riku raised an eyebrow. "Wait, what was that?"

"Remember when Emma got the Gingko attack? If she can use it, there has to be a corresponding earth-related spell we can now use," Dia explained. "I just guessed that it was Quake, since that's a spell from FFVII."

Pete growled. "Stop talking and fight!" He reared his fist back, but he didn't have a chance to fight; the twelve Senshi closed in and beat the living daylights out of him before he could make his move. "That hurt, you little brats!"

"That's the point." Sora bashed him once more, and he fell over. However, the Hook Bats kept materializing; they were weak Heartless, but there were too many. "All right, we'd better get out of here," he announced. He hit Meg's chains with the Keyblade, and they disappeared.

Hercules appeared next to the Senshi. "Sorry I'm late!" He glanced over at Pete. "Huh. I'm REALLY late." He whistled for Pegasus. "Get Meg out of here. I'll meet you at the Coliseum."

"What? No way!" Roxas shook his head. "We're staying here. Pegasus can take Meg back himself, can't he?" he asked as the winged horse flew down.

Hercules looked reluctant, but he grinned and put Meg on Pegasus's back. "Take care of her, all right?" Pegasus whinnied and took off.

Pete wobbled to his feet. "I can't take this right now! Come out here!"

Etoile appeared next to him. "Tag team!" She slapped Pete's gloved hand, and he ran away. "It's payback time, Senshi! Oh, and the meathead," she mumbled, looking at Hercules. "I guess I'm taking you out, too."

Sora snorted. "Yeah, right! You can't possible fight all of us at once. Emma? I've got an idea," he announced. "Use the Blizzard Stone."

"YUKI NAIFU!" Emma nodded once her eyes and shirt became blue. "Now what?"

The Keyblade Master grinned. "We do a Limit, of course!"

Emma grinned back, and materialized three icicles; they crumbled, and became three daggers identical to her own. She tossed two to Sora. "Improvisation time!" They spun around Etoile with their daggers out, becoming lethally spiky whirlwinds. "This is fun! We've got to do this more often!" Emma exclaimed.

Etoile didn't look all that pained; rather, she looked upset at the fact that two teenagers were slicing her clothes. "Hey! It cost a lot of jack to buy these! They're made from the finest Muscadet silk!"

"Now!" Sora called. He and Emma stabbed Etoile's arms. "Uh…Emma? When you stab someone with these…don't they…?"

"That's right," Emma murmured.

"What? WHAT?" Etoile shrieked. She paled as shimmering, blue marking flowed through her arms. "What did you do you me, you fagmas?"

The knives disappeared, and Emma returned to normal. "We filled your veins with ice," she casually explained.

Etoile shivered uncontrollably. "Once I get my arms fixed, you two are going to be DEAD! Nameen?"

"Nah. At this rate, you're probably going to die first. When she did that to Seymour, he died in ten seconds. And she only had one dagger," Dia told the viera.

"TEN SECONDS?" Etoile exploded; now she was looking utterly frantic. She disappeared in a wave of darkness.

The cave they were in started to crumble. "Oh!" Bernie pointed in the direction they had come from. "Olympus Coliseum! Now!"

"Do you think we really killed Etoile?" Jake asked.

Emma shook her head. "You can never get rid of antagonists that quickly. She'll be back. Possibly without any arms, but she'll be back."

… … …

"This can't be…" Hercules dejectedly fell to his knees. The building formerly known as the Coliseum lay ruined in front of him. The Hydra was stomping around, destroying everything that it hadn't got to before. "I failed…"

"It's not your fault!" Meg insisted.

"I left everyone unprotected!" Hercules slammed his fist into the ground. "Hades was right. I'm just a…a washout."

Phil shook Hercules's shoulder. "Aw, come on, champ! I didn't train you to think like that."

Dia spun the Shihaii Wand around. "We'll take care of the Hydra," she announced. "Don't worry." Meg nodded and helped Hercules away.

"Don't suppose you got room for one more?" Phil got into a fighting stance.

Meg ran back over, with Pegasus. "We're in."

"Sora! Sora!" Jake ran over to the older boy, looking excited. "Sora, let's Drive!"

Sora scratched his head. "I don't think we can."

"Myeh. But it's worth a try, isn't it?" Sora shrugged. "YAY!"

Suddenly, there was a flash of light coming from the spot where the two stood. When it faded, Jake had disappeared; Sora was left alone, wearing a set of green clothes. "Whoa! It worked!" Sora looked down at his Keyblades; he was still holding the Macalania Keyblade in his right hand, but a Keyblade with the Ikiteiru Shield's symbol laid in his left. He raised them, and twirled around the Hydra, smashing its head. The Hydra attempted to bite him a few times, but its attack was repelled by a force field that would spring out of Sora's second Keyblade.

After a minute or so, the Hydra plunged its head into the ground, and several other heads sprung up through the area. The other Senshi beat them immediately, and the necks and heads of the Hydra stopped moving. "Uh-oh," Bernie murmured. She flinched, as did Emma and Dia. "Emma, did you remember to change you-know-what?" Emma numbly shook her head. The three real-worlders immediately covered their ears.

Sora turned around. "What's wrong with you guys?"

"GET UP ON THE HYDRA'S BACK!" Phil yelled from the top of a column. "GET UP ON THE HYDRA'S BACK! GET UP ON THE HYDRA'S BACK! GET UP ON THE HYDRA'S BACK! GET UP ON THE HYDRA'S BACK! GET UP ON THE HYDRA'S BACK! GET UP ON THE HYDRA'S BACK! GET UP ON THE HYDRA'S BACK!"

"That's what's wrong!" Dia hollered, trying to be heard over Phil's repetitive command.

Sora looked as if he were about to jam his Keyblades into his ears. "I'm coming!" he sighed.

"GET UP ON THE HYDRA'S BACK! GET UP ON THE HYDRA'S BACK! GET UP ON THE HYDRA'S BACK! GET UP ON THE HYDRA'S BACK! GET UP ON THE HYDRA'S BACK!" Phil continued, not hearing Sora.

"I'M HERE!" Sora snapped with uncharacteristic frustration. "What do you want?"

"GET UP ON THE HYDRA'S BACK! GET UP ON THE…oh." Phil shut his mouth as Sora raised his Keyblades, poised to knock the satyr off his perch. "Knock this into the Hydra!" he instructed, tossing him a Grecian urn.

Sora dutifully hit the urn into the Hydra, who roared in pain. The majority of the fight continued in this circle; Sora hit the Hydra's heads, Phil yelled, "GET UP ON THE HYDRA'S BACK!", and Sora used the Urninator reaction command.

"This is boring," Riku commented. "We don't get to do anything."

"Get used to it," Emma replied sorrowfully, as Sora leapt onto Pegasus's back and slashed each of the Hydra's heads. "In every boss battle in every video game, the fight goes in a circle. And the hero usually does all of the fighting."

"But aren't you the heroine?"

"I'm the primary guide, and I've got control over a lot of the game. Sora's the Keyblade Master. I pale greatly in comparison."

"I see."

Finally, the now-headless Hydra fell to the ground. There was another flash of light, and Jake reappeared next to Sora, who had returned to normal. "THAT WAS SO COOL!" Jake exclaimed shrilly. "I WANNA DO THAT AGAIN!"

Sora patted the animist's head. "Later," he assured him.

Everyone walked over to Hercules, who was still figuratively beating himself up. "I let you down," he complained. "I'm just…no use."

"It's not your fault," Meg insisted. "Hey, even a god would be exhausted." She looked up at the Senshi. "Don't worry about Wonderboy here. I'll look after him. I owe all of you big time."

"It was no problem," Emma told her. "But did you happen to find a piece of paper?"

Meg thought for a moment. "Paper…? Oh!" She handed Emma a scroll. "Would this be it?"

Emma nodded enthusiastically as she recognized Tokumei's handwriting. "Yeah, this is it!" She looked over the entry as Sora returned the Olympus Stone, after opening the next gate. "We'd better get going. See you all later!"

… … …

The Senshi crowded around Emma once they were onboard the Phoenix. "What's it say?" Jake pressed. "Anything good? Anything about Mommy?"

"Or Tolea?" Dia added.

Emma cleared her throat. "Well, this is pretty interesting…for me, at least."

_Briara's constant pestering finally got me to ask Miss Rodgers on a date. That stupid thief finds it hilarious that I don't call Miss Rodgers by her first name; I'm just being polite, which is a foreign custom to Briara. It's a good thing that her boyfriend has the I.Q. of a russet potato._

_So, I ended up going out with Miss Rodgers…she insisted that I call her Alissa, though. She really is nice. We went on a double date with Briara and Taylor. We went to a Japanese restaurant called Tokyo Marina; Taylor ordered a Coke, and then tried to drink it with chopsticks. I will never understand why Briara likes him. Maybe he makes her feel smart._

_I don't think I can ever make it clear how foolish and impulsive that woman is. If she was bored enough, she'd probably think, "Hey, I bet jumping off a building would be fun!" and never have enough time to regret it. Why am I saying this? Well, how can I put this nicely…who am I kidding? I can't._

_That dumb broad is getting married to Mr. I-Can't-Tie-My-Shoes._

_And Briara's the one who proposed._

_I don't think I'll be able to write another entry for a while…I'll be too busy laughing myself into a coma._

Dia wolf-whistled. "Way to go, Mom!"

Jake giggled. "I just realized something. If Alissa's last name is Rodgers, and Tokumei probably doesn't have a last name because he's from Hollow Bastion, shouldn't he be Mr. Rodgers?"

"Obviously, Jake-kun, he gave himself the last name Baecker, so he-"

"It's a wonderful day in the neighborhood, a wonderful day for a neighbor!" Jake interrupted, prancing around.

Max rolled his eyes and hopped into the driver's seat. "Yeeeeeaaaaah. Next stop, Disney Castle."

… … …

"So this is where you guys live?" Kairi murmured. "It looks nice."

The Senshi stepped into the Gummi Hangar.

"Ya know, somethin' just don't feel quite right…" Goofy spoke up, glancing around. Donald and Max nodded.

Chip and Dale slid down a ledge, looking worried. "Move it! Let's go!" Dale exclaimed.

"Queen Minnie needs to see you!" Chip squeaked.

"The castle's in danger! Hurry! To the library!"

… … …

"Ansem, I strongly suggest that you cut this out," Aldwyndain grumbled. DiZ was still seated at his computer in Twilight Town. "Roxas is relatively safe. He's with Sora. What are you doing now?"

DiZ flashed an odd smile at him before returning to his work. "Does it really matter?"

"Seeing as how I'm busting my butt to help you, yes, I think I deserve to know a little."

"Very well." DiZ turned around. "If you must know, I am studying the changes that Emma has made. She's quite an interesting girl; she can 'fix' things on a whim, when she finds them too vexing or boring."

Aldwyndain plopped down in a chair. "Well, she is one of the kids prophesied to have that ability. What about her?"

DiZ smiled again. "If we look to the past, we may be able to see the future. If we examine the changes she has already made, we may be able to predict what changes she will make at a later time."

"No!" Aldwyndain sprung to his feet, enraged. "You know what was supposed to happen when you used Roxas in your revenge scheme! It would have backfired, and you would have died!" he exclaimed. "You should have learned something from the true game! I know you're mad at your apprentices, but I won't let Emma be your pawn, you psychotic old fart!"

"Why, who said that?" DiZ became extremely serious. "I have learned from the mistakes I would have made. I admit that I am a foolish man, but I am not nearly that foolish. For the most part, Kingdom Hearts II ends on a happy note. But sacrifices are made. Friends are lost. Emma is a righteous and kind-hearted girl, we both know that. I do believe that she can save lives." Aldwyndain's expression softened. "Take a look at this. These are things that Emma has done not for herself, but for others, to change the game."

Aldwyndain walked over to the screen. "She saved Riku and Mickey from being trapped behind Kingdom Hearts. She sent Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, and Mickey back home. She second-handedly prevented Sora, Donald, and Goofy from losing their memories, as well as the other Senshi. Well, yeah, that's common knowledge among the guys here who know we're in a game."

DiZ got up and started pacing. "We know not what awaits this universe in Kingdom Hearts III, but I assure you, bad things will happen. Emma has inadvertently created two new antagonists, Etoile Caligula and Lotrayx. The changes she may make in this game could create even more for the next game. But she can fix whatever she breaks. And she can fix even more than that."

Aldwyndain nodded. "Of course she can! Although that doesn't completely explain why I'm still your lackey, and why King Mickey is still being all stealthy."

"You should know why you are still in my service, Aldwyndain. We both wish to aid Emma. As to what my old friend is up to, I don't believe he has any plans. He needed to get the Juu Senshi some munny so they could ride the train to Yen Sid's tower."

"That's it?"

"As far as I know. But as you so eloquently put it, I am a psychotic old fart," DiZ joked. "He may be up to something else."


	6. Don't Rock the Boat

"Something else?" Aldwyndain repeated warily. "What else would King Mickey be up to?"

DiZ shook his head. "His bigger plans are not known to me, but I know one thing that His Majesty is doing. Apparently, he got hold of a certain document, and has been hiding parts of it in the worlds that the Senshi visit."

Aldwyndain nodded. "The Tokumei Report, right?"

"King Mickey knows something that we do not. The Heartless and Organization XIII want to destroy those who can alter the game; they may also wish to get revenge on those who aided them. That means King Mickey, Tolea, Briara, and…Tokumei. I am in danger as well. But perhaps King Mickey knows a way to prevent this from occurring." DiZ spun back around in his chair, and resumed typing. "You are dismissed."

"I've got one more question, though." Aldwyndain glanced both ways. "Emma can change things, I know that…but can the Heartless and Organization XIII change things too?"

"Yes."

The purple-haired man was taken aback by the bluntness of DiZ's answer. "Yes? That's horrible! Why are you being so casual?"

"They cannot change whatever they wish, do not worry. But they can undo Emma's actions."

"What do you mean?"

DiZ sighed heavily. "If the Organization gets their way, you may not be my only assistant."

It took Aldwyndain a few moments to process this. "Riku? But to make Riku turn to the darkness and take on the appearance of Xehanort's Heartless…the Senshi, most importantly Sora, would have to be in…" DiZ nodded ominously. "…in deep trouble. Oh, no…"

"I will be requiring you for short periods to aid me in my plans. But during the War Sequence, when the Heartless assault Hollow Bastion…well, I would not blame you if you flew to the Senshi's side." DiZ gave him a little smile. "In fact, I would encourage it."

Aldwyndain grinned back. "Even if you discouraged it, I'd be there in a snap." His body turned into wind, and he blew away.

… … …

"Man, that was trippy," Dia commented as she and the other Juu Senshi were beamed aboard the Phoenix. "It's weird enough being pixelated, but being drawn like I'm a 30's cartoon?" She let out a low whistle and shook her head.

Emma straightened a fancy sheet of paper. "Should we wait to read the next Tokumei Report until we pick up the Ino Senshi?"

"Nah. Let's not make Tolea squirm in front of the others," Dia advised. "Hurry up and read it."

_I may not have laughed myself into a coma, as I mentioned that I would in my last entry, but Briara's wedding was quite possibly one of the weirdest things that I have ever seen. And I'm from Radiant Garden, so I've seen loads of weird things. All the attendees were friends and family of Captain Hollow-head, since Mickey and Ansem refused to let any more game characters out, especially not Briara's group of wanted tag-a-longs. I went, obviously, and Tolea did too. She dressed in all-black and wore a lot of spiked chains to make herself look like a punk; that way, people would assume that her purple hair was dyed and her gold eyes were contact lenses. Apparently that's how some real-world teenagers voluntarily dress._

_Except for Tolea and me, everyone was stupid. I'm not just trying to insult them, they were actually STUPID. Poor Taylor, his damaged brain cells must have been hereditary. A lot of his relatives had drinking problems. No, they didn't drink too much beer, I mean they…well, have you heard of "Airplane!"? It's a disturbing real-world movie that Briara forced me to watch. This guy has a drinking problem, but he's not an alcoholic, he just can't drink. Every time he tries to drink something, he throws it in his face. That's what some of Taylor's relatives did. I am completely serious._

_Alissa came halfway through the wedding. When Briara tossed the bouquet, I swear she was aiming for her. If we were back in the game, I'd wipe her smirk off with a Firaga to the face._

_I've been really busy with prophecy-related things, so I haven't gotten a chance to write for a while; the wedding was around a year ago, and Briara's having a kid now. Someone's in a hurry…anyway, she wants to name her tyke Ultima. Lady, the kid's going to be a real-worlder! You don't name her after an Esper! Taylor wants her name to be Lydianne. I think that's a crummy name, but it's a whole lot better than Ultima._

"Is not!" Dia cried out when Emma had finished reading. "If my name was Ultima…man, that would be awesome!"

"I can call you that if you want, Dia-chan," Kaze volunteered politely. Dia thanked him with a quick grin.

"If Sis was going to be Ultima, what was I going to be?" Jake wondered. "Bahamut?"

"Jake, King of Dragons!" Bernie exclaimed happily.

"Mega Flare, RAWR!" Jake roared, opening his mouth as wide as he could and flapping his arms hysterically.

Emma patted his head. "If you really could use Mega Flare, we'd clean up Heartless in no time," she laughed. "We'd better get the Ino Senshi now."

… … …

Robin waved a black-nailed hand as the Juu Senshi approached Merlin's house. The other nine Ino Senshi were standing around her. "Hey! We ready ta go?"

Emma nodded. "Yep. We should hurry up."

"What, to Atlantica?" Sim spat. "Why would we want to hurry?" She glanced around, and was met with eerily excited smiles from Emma, Dia, Jake, and Bernie. "We're…not going to Atlantica, are we?" They nodded, still smiling. "Are we going to another Final Fantasy place?"

"Maybe later."

"Where, then?"

"We're going to the world after Atlantica," Jake giggled. At this, Neassa, Angel, and Wolf also smiled. The other Ino Senshi understood as well, but weren't surprised.

Robin laughed. "Well, ah can't wait ta see this. Yer prolly gonna drool all over y'know-who, ain'tcha?"

Neassa rubbed her hands together gleefully. "No way. I'm going to beat the living daylights out of the eunuch."

"Not if I beat you to beating him," Emma declared.

"We'll tag-team him, then!"

"Deal." She and Neassa shook hands.

… … …

"That's getting really annoying, guys," Roxas grumbled. On the way to Port Royal, the Senshi who were PotC fans had been humming the movie's theme, 'He's a Pirate', loudly. The game characters and the real-worlders who didn't particularly like it were understandably irritated. "Can you please stop? I think I hear something."

The humming stopped, and everything was silent on the rampart. A few screams erupted in the direction that the town was. "I bet that's got something to do with Pete and Etoile. Hey, didn't we pump Etoile's arms full of ice?" Sora asked Emma, trying to hide the grin that accompanied the question.

Emma nodded, trying to suppress a grin herself. "Let's go take a look." The Senshi crept down toward the harbor.

Pete and Etoile were indeed there, conversing with Barbossa and his crew. "…and thanks to the curse put on it, we are neither among the livin' nor the dead."

Etoile scoffed, and crossed her arms. There seemed to be nothing wrong with them; however, she was now wearing a pair of black silk gloves that extended to the center of her forearm. "And how's that?" At that moment, a formation of clouds uncovered the moon, and the pirates became skeletal. "Oh. I see. Well, can we hurry this up? I wanna leave, asap-ish. This place is S-cubed."

"She always talks like that, just ignore her," Pete rushed in before Etoile could add another slang-ridden complaint. "If you see a mob of kiddies with a few mush-brained walking animals-"

"Like him," Etoile supplied.

"Yeah, like…HEY!" The viera was still wearing a silk scarf around the lower half of her face, but it was safe to say that she was smirking. Pete grumbled for a while before continuing. "Anyway, if you see those doofuses, steer clear. They got a kind 'a magic that don't belong in this world, see? And nobody knows what it'd do to ya. 'Specially when the moon's showing whatcha really are."

A new clump of clouds drifted past, blocking the moonlight and returning the pirates' skin. "A match for Barbossa, you say?" their captain murmured, disbelieving but interested. He displayed a rotten-toothed grin.

The Senshi emerged with their various weapons drawn. "See there? I knew it! Those are the punks I was tellin' ya about," Pete declared.

"Nice ta see we're gettin' some fame," Robin told her allies sarcastically.

Barbossa turned to his crew. "Men, half of you stay here and indulge these cullies. The rest, bring me that medallion!" The pirates split up, and the half that was to stay ran toward the Senshi.

"Yeah, crush 'em for us," Etoile agreed. "It doesn't matter who kills these midgets, as long as they're dead. I just want that jack."

"Etoile wants Jack," Jake giggled.

"She means money," Dia informed him, but his statement caused a small ripple of laughter among the PotC fans nonetheless, Dia included. "Let's smoke these skeletons."

The Senshi that couldn't utilize magic stepped back as those who could advanced toward the enemy. "FIRE!" Sora, Donald, Goofy, Emma, Dia, Jake, Riku, Bernie, Roxas, and Neassa yelled.

"TWIN SUNS!" Robin called as she shot several energy bullets.

"CRYSTAL FLAME!" Kairi aimed her Gyene Armlets at the pirates and attacked them with her elemental lasers.

The undead pirates were killed off immediately. "Pirates of the Caribbean would have been over so much quicker if Jack knew fire magic," Neassa remarked, and dismissed her fanged staff.

"This ain't over!" Pete swore.

"You ragoverths have gotten far past my last nerve," Etoile told them. "But I can't say I'm upset to leave." She and Pete disappeared.

Sora sheathed the Monochrome, the Keyblade he had gotten from the Timeless River. "We're going into town next, right?"

"Weeeee're off to see the eunuch!" Emma and Neassa cried, hooking arms and skipping in a circle. "Binky the Wonder Eunuch! You'll find he is a whiz of a eunuch, if ever a eunuch there was! If ever, oh ever, a eunuch there was, Binky the Wonder Eunuch is one because,  
because, because, because, because, becaaaaause! Because of the foppy things he does! Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na! We're off to see the eunuch! Binky the Wonder Eunuch!"

There was a dull silence that hung in the air. After a moment or two, Donald broke it with, "That was the stupidest parody you guys have ever done."

"Speak for Emma," Neassa disagreed. "Once, I acted out the ending of Kingdom Hearts with stuff I found around my house." She paused. "You were a spoon." She pointed to Goofy. "You were a bar of soap." She pointed to Sora. "You were a key."

Sora scratched his head. "Um…thanks. Can we go now?"

… … …

"Where are you taking me? Let me go!" Elizabeth demanded, banging on the back of the pirate who was taking her away.

Will ran out, looking mad but not really bothering to do anything that would consume his time, which he needs a lot of to make sure his hair is combed just right. "Elizabeth! Stop!" A crop of Shadows sprung up in front of him, twitching adorably. "What are they?" he asked aloud.

"Get 'im good!" Neassa cried, egging on the Heartless.

Robin sighed and flicked the side of the Senshi's head. "Save yer fop-hatin' fer when we bust these guys' heads open." Neassa banged each Heartless on the head a few times with her staff, then blew raspberries at Robin.

Will smiled. "Well done! My own fencing skills are not to be ashamed of…but I've never-"

"Fop," Emma and Neassa cut in simultaneously.

"Er, why are you-"

"Fop."

"I don't believe-"

"Fop, fop, fop, fop!" The two teenagers exclaimed, to the tune of the Westminster Chimes. "Fop, fop, fop, fop! Fop, fop, fop, fop! Fop, fop, fop, fop!"

"Emma, what time is it?"

"Why, Neassa, it's fop o' clock!"

"FOP! FOP! FOP!" they yelled, imitating a clock tolling the hour.

"Why did they do that?" Will asked tentatively after he had determined speaking to be safe.

Riku shrugged. "They're weird. Do they need another reason?" He glared at the two Senshi, giggling hysterically. "Are you done yet?" They just nodded, too busy to respond vocally. "See? They're harmless when you get to know them."

Will nodded. He gestured in the direction that the pirate had taken Elizabeth. "A very dear friend of mine has been abducted. Could you aid me in retrieving her?"

Sora grinned. "That's what the Senshi are here for! I'm Sora, and they're Donald, Goofy, Dia, Jake, Riku, Kairi, Robin, Bernie, Roxas, Kaze, Max, Dragon, Sona, Angel, Yami, Sim, Pyro, Tolea, and Wolf. The laughing ones are Emma and Neassa…they don't normally do that."

As if to confirm this, they both stood up. Emma good-naturedly shook Will's hand. "Now that we've got that out of our systems, we'll behave," she promised.

"At least for now," Neassa added, but she also smiled and shook his other hand.

Will bowed his head. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you. No doubt you'll be a great help. If we're going to catch those pirates, we've got to get to the docks!"

… … …

Unfortunately but predictably, Will and the Senshi were late. "Those pirates kidnapped Miss Swann and took her to their ship. Now they've sailed, and I'll never be able to find her!" Will lamented.

"Then she's long gone," a voice declared from behind them. Everyone turned around. A man had climbed onto a docked boat, making flailing gestures in their direction. "The Black Pearl is nigh uncatchable. Best find yourself another girl, mate."

Will gritted his teeth. "You…what are you doing aboard the Interceptor? She's off limits to civilians."

"Ah, fortunate that I'm going to commandeer her, then. She'll make a fine pirate ship."

"YAY, JACK!" Jake impulsively yelled.

The man's beaded dreadlocks and beard swung around as he straightened himself. "Captain Jack Sparrow, if you please," he corrected the boy.

"Take me with you," Will ordered. "Help me hunt down the Black Pearl and save Miss Swann. I got you out of that jail cell, Sparrow. Do this, and your debt's repaid."

"Us, too!" Jake squealed.

Jack gave them a grin, displaying a golden tooth. "You'll have to win fair lady's heart alone, mate. I see no profit in it for me."

"Are you sure you can sail her, all on your own?" Will opened his arms to encompass himself and the twenty-two Senshi. "I'm sure you'll need a crew."

Jack sighed. "You've got a point there…I can't expect to go anywhere all by my onesies. But first, I need to ask you all a question. Do you have the courage and fortitude to follow orders and stay true in the face of danger and almost certain death?"

"Sure, whatever," Robin decided lamely. The other Senshi nodded; Will just looked skeptical.

"I suppose 'whatever' is all I can hope for at the moment," Jack grumbled, and kicked the ramp down. "Welcome aboard, all."

"Thanks, Sparrow," Will said as he and the others ran up.

"CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow!" The PotC fans declared. "Savvy?"

Jack looked them over. "Much obliged. And you are?"

"Emma, Dia, Jake, Bernie, Neassa, Angel, and Wolf, cap'n!" Dia announced, pointing to everyone in turn. They brought their feet together and saluted him.

"At ease. You know, I think we'll get along quite nicely." They beamed at him. "I don't suppose you have any rum, do you?

"We're all underage," Angel pointed out. "Well, Donald, Goofy, and Kaze aren't, but I doubt they have any-"

Bernie started rummaging through her purse, and pulled out a glass bottle. "As a token of our respect, Captain Sparrow."

Everyone else immediately halted whatever they were doing, except for Will, who was caught up in fantasizing about Elizabeth. "…Bernie?" Roxas asked cautiously. "Do you…usually carry a bottle of rum around?"

Bernie shrugged. "When in Rome, do as the Romans do," she offered, and put the bottle in Jack's grimy, outstretched hand.

"I am in your debt, luv," Jack told her, popped the cap off, and gulped half of it down. "Now, I've some effects to liberate."

"On it, Cap'n Sparrow!" Bernie declared, and ran off toward the prison.

"If you see Commodore Norrie, knock his head for me, would you?" Neassa called after her.

… … …

Approximately half an hour later, the Senshi, Jack, and Will were still on the Interceptor. "I guess this is movie time, not game time," Sim grumbled. "We should have been there five minutes ago, at the most."

The Senshi stood at the ship's railing, overlooking the Caribbean sea. Emma took a deep breath. "This air is so refreshing. It's a nice change from the scent of car fumes," she remarked serenely.

"Yeah, but we've been smelling it for 30 minutes!" Pyro agreed. "I want to get off this thing!" She stomped around for a while.

"Ah'm just as bored as the next 'a ya, but dun rock the boat, all right?" Robin cautioned her. The slightly more insane real-worlders exchanged looks. "Aw no, not here, not now!" the Osakan begged them.

"So, I'd like to know where you got the notion!" Emma sang, bobbing her head around.

"I said, I'd like to know where you got the notion!" Dia, Jake, Bernie, Neassa, Angel, and Pyro joined in. "To rock the boat!"

"Don't rock the boat, baby!"

"Rock the boat!"

"Don't tip the boat over!"

"Rock the boat!"

"Don't rock the boat, baby!"

"Rock the booooo-ooo-ooo-oooooat!"

Jack glanced up from his compass. "That's lovely and all, mates, but could you keep it down? I've got to concentrate."

Will leaned over his shoulder. "Why are you so fixated on that compass?"

"It'll be she that leads us to the Isla de Muerta…where Barbossa's headed. Savvy?"

"Lemme see that!" Pyro snatched the compass from him. "I know what I want, I know what I want, I know what I want, I know what I want, I know what I WANT!" she chanted.

Jack irritably snatched it back. "No time for that, luv."

Bernie stepped forward. "Could I please see that?"

"Psh, forget it. Everyone knows where it'd point," Sona declared, spinning her finger around and stopping when it was pointing in Jack's direction. "Durr, me Bernie and me love Johnnykins, durr!"

"How do you know of this compass?" Jack asked skeptically.

"None of your business, Bandana Boy," Yami murmured, shining his steel-toed boots with his own bandana.

Kairi put her hands on her hips. "That wasn't very nice!" she admonished.

"Just trying to keep the world order, Red."

… … …

After what seemed like forever, the Interceptor docked at Isla de Muerta. Jack turned to his temporary crew. "Wait here. Young Turner and I will rescue the lady." He and Will ran down the ramp, and into the cave.

The moment that the two men were out of earshot, Max said, "We're not going to wait here, are we?"

Tolea shook her head. "We have to loiter around inside the mouth of the cave until Will and Elizabeth come running out."

"What about Jack?"

"Ah, he'll be back eventually," Robin dismissed. "Let's jus' go loiter."

… … …

Will and Elizabeth came barreling out of the cave several minutes later, followed by a mob of pirates. "Quick, they're after us!" Will exclaimed, pointing out the obvious.

The Senshi took out their weapons again. "We'll hold them off," Sora assured him. "Light the signal flare when we're ready to set sail." Will nodded and ran off. "Same strategy?" he asked his allies.

"FIRE!"

"TWIN SUNS!"

"CRYSTAL FLAME!"

The pirates were dispatched quickly; sure enough, a flare flew up from the Interceptor the moment they were done. "That was fast," Kaze noted appreciatively. "Will the rest of the level go like that?"

The real-worlders shrugged. "More or less," Dia decided. "The first half of the game is easy…but then it gets tough."

Emma nodded. "And not just the game play…what's going to happen to the plot if Kairi, Riku, and Roxas are still with us?"

Riku shuddered. "But how long will we be with you?"

… … …

"The Black Pearl!" Elizabeth pointed at an ominous ship that was in the distance, but not too far from the Interceptor to miss if it loaded a cannon. "What now?"

Will thought for a moment. "What would Jack do?" he wondered.

"That's easy." Dia positioned one hand as if she was holding a bottle, made squirming motions with the other, squinted one eye, and swaggered over to the railing.

"I'm serious, Dia," Will sighed.

"Captain. Captain Dia Quinn," she corrected in a slurred tone. "And I AM serious." She mimed drinking from her imaginary bottle, and smacked her lips. "Well, crew…" She threw both arms in the air. "…I say we make a run for it!"

The sound of a cannon being fired came from the Black Pearl; before anyone had a chance to react, the Interceptor started shaking violently. "Sing 'Dun Rock the Boat' an' ah'll kill ya!" Robin swore.

The impact sent Will stumbling backwards, and into the water. "Will!" Elizabeth cried frantically.

Everyone laid down and covered their heads when they heard the cannon sound again. Sora clambered over to the medallion, which was laying on the planks, and gripped it tightly. "We're just gonna have to fight!" he announced. He glanced at Elizabeth. "Uh…you go hide somewhere." Elizabeth nodded grimly, and ran as fast as her dress would allow her to toward the Interceptor's hold.

Emma gave herself an ether, and cupped her hands around her mouth to be heard above the thunderous waves. "Everyone who can't use magic, man the cannons!"

"I've always found that a sexist term," Sim grumbled, but she, Kaze, Max, Dragon, Sona, Angel, Yami, Pyro, Tolea, and Wolf loaded the heavy projectiles into the cannons.

Barbossa's crew poured onto the Interceptor, wielding crossbows. "Will the arrows still stab us, even if we're in the game?" Neassa whimpered. One pirate fired an arrow at her; she lost a miniscule amount of HP, but the arrow disappeared. "Oh. Never mind."

"What's all this, then? We're fightin' children?" one pirate, short and balding, exclaimed in surprise.

The pirate beside him, tall and twitchy, groaned. "I don't like fightin' women or children, bad enough we've got to fight a troupe of little girls," he complained.

Neassa rubbed her hands together gleefully. "I'm already having the time of my life, Emma, but you just made it shine!"

Emma grinned. "I do what I can." As Pintel and Ragetti rushed toward the Senshi, Emma wrapper her fingers around the Fire Stone and called, "PYROMANIAC!"

The two extremely dirty pirates skidded to a stop. "Remind me to stop drinkin' rum for a while, would you?" Pintel asked meekly. "I think I jus' saw that little girl grow claws and burst into flames."

"Well, she mus' have some magicky powers tha' stem from that there necklace," Ragetti reasoned. "The enormous, talkin' cat said tha' they've got a kinda magic that don't belong here, you remember?"

Pintel slapped the back of Ragetti's head. "You moron, that don't make no sense at all!"

Emma grazed them with her fiery claws, prompting them to squeak. "I wouldn't strike that idea out," she laughed, and bounded off toward some pirates who were trying to steal the medallion from Sora.

"…told you so," Ragetti quietly told Pintel, while rubbing his arm in the water on the Interceptor's railing, attempting to extinguish the fire now smoldering on his sleeve. Pintel just grumbled and smacked Ragetti again, and a wooden ball popped out of one of his sockets. "Me eye!"

One of the Interceptor's cannons shot at the Black Pearl, and an explosion resounded. Pyro hopped around gleefully. "It went BOOM!"

"BOOM indeed," Yami agreed, smirking slightly as he loaded another projectile.

One of the pirates shoved Sora to the ground, and the medallion skittered out of his hand. "Ha! I've got it!"

"Yoink-yoink!" Riku slid by on his knees and grabbed the medallion. "FIRE!" The pirate ran around for a while, flaming, before disappearing.

"The only pirates left are Pintel and Ragetti," Bernie pointed out. "What should we do?"

Nobody responded verbally, but Dia and Wolf heaved the two pirates overboard. "Oh, and you forgot something!" Dia snorted as she picked up the wooden eye and tossed it at Ragetti, who fumbled nervously for it. "Later!"

Emma fizzled out, and returned to normal. "Did you notice that both times we've fought on a pirate ship, we set the pirate on fire and threw him overboard when we were done?"

"To be fair, Hook fell," Sora told her defensively.

"And Hook was ugly, but not nearly as ugly as Barbossa," Donald declared, and started quacking. Everyone was silent. "…he's right behind me, isn't he?"

"Afraid so." Barbossa smirked, and pet the monkey that was perched on his shoulder. Jack and Elizabeth were next to him, tied up. Upon looking around, the Senshi also realized that they had suddenly been surrounded by more pirates. "Now then, I'll be having back that medallion. Unless it's more important than their lives?" he questioned, gesturing to Jack and Elizabeth.

"Barbossa!" Will, dripping wet, was standing on the Interceptor's railing. He aimed a pistol at the skeletal captain. "She goes free!"

Barbossa chuckled. "Go ahead, boy, shoot! We can't die!"

"You can't…" Will agreed, and pointed the pistol to his own head. "…but I can! My name is Will Turner! My father was Bootstrap Bill Turner! His blood runs in my veins!"

Jack hung his head. "…told him not to do anything stupid," he grumbled.

"On my word, do as I say, or I'll pull this trigger and be lost to Davy Jones' Locker."

"Tee-hee, he said Davy Jones' Locker," Jake giggled. Bernie glared at the boy, but just put her hand on his shoulder to silence him.

Barbossa gave in. "Name your terms…Mr. Turner."

"Release Elizabeth!" Will demanded. "And the Senshi, too!"

"Anything else?" Barbossa asked. Jack flailed around in his ropes, trying to get Will's attention.

Will thought momentarily. "Leave, now!"

Barbossa bowed. "Agreed. Leave we shall…" He smirked at Will. "…but the Heartless stay!"

Pete's raucous laughter was heard moments before he appeared behind Will; he knocked him unconscious with an oar and dragged the blacksmith away. "No fair!" Sora yelled.

"We've got them outnumbered! We can fight them off!" Max told the other Senshi. "Just get every Heartless you can!"

Suddenly, a black, metal ball landed by the Senshi, and started spewing a purple mist. Emma yawned loudly. "This can't be good…"

Dia's knees buckled. "Aw, dookie."

As Jack, Elizabeth, and the Senshi fell to the deck, Etoile's seemingly faraway voice cooed, "Pleasant dreams, ragoverths!"

… … …

"This is even worse!" Jake whined. When he and the others woke up, they realized that they were in the Interceptor's hold, and their hands were all tied together. "Since we fell asleep, we don't know how long the powder kegs on the deck have been on fire!"

"WHAT?" Elizabeth screamed. "We're going to be blown apart?"

"Don't worry, Elizabeth! Jack knows what to do!" Goofy announced. He looked over at Jack. "You do, don'tcha?"

Jack's head was hung. "Why struggle, mate? A pirate knows when to surrender," he told them dejectedly.

"Oh, come on!" Robin sighed in exasperation. "Just cut us free wit' yer fancy li'l knife!"

"I was trying to be dramatic, Miss Food," Jack drawled, holding up his hands to show they were rope-free.

"FUUDO."

"Don't take this personally, lass, but I'm not sure I care." He leaned over to cut Robin's ropes. "Happy now?"

Robin massaged her wrists. "As happy as ah can be when ah've got rope burn."

When everyone had been freed, Jack declared, "First, we've got to see to the gunpowder. I'm not about to lose this ship!"

"What's so special about this ship, Sparrow-sama?" Kaze asked.

Jack grinned weakly. "We're still on it."

"Oh. Yeah."

There were five flaming powder kegs on the deck when the group had made their way out. "We haven't got enough time to snuff these out," Jack said through gritted teeth. "Please tell me that you have an idea."

"FROSTBITE!" Robin yelled, shooting five ice-induced energy bullets at the kegs. They shook, and then fizzled out.

Jack nodded to her. "Well done, Miss…FUUDO." He swaggered over to the helm. "Barbossa must be long gone…but at least we know his destination. To Isla de Muerta!"

… … …

Barbossa and his crew were gathered around the medallion chest; Will was standing directly in back of it. Barbossa brandished a knife. "Now, let's be tryin' this again! The last of the Aztec treasure has been returned. And now, the blood will be repaid to free us from this curse forever! This time for sure!"

"Ahoy, mateys!"

Jack and the Senshi ran into the treasure heap. Dia rolled her eyes and patted Sora's head. "Nice try, but why don't you leave the pirate speak for Jack and Barbossa, hmm?"

Barbossa stared blankly at them. "Not possible," he murmured.

"Not probable!" Donald declared. "We're alive and we're pirates!"

"Sort of," Emma half-agreed with a shrug.

"So, you want to play pirate?" Barbossa asked patronizingly. "Best save the playacting for the nursery."

"I'm afraid we're disinclined to acquiesce to your request," Bernie told the captain, mimicking his hissing voice. "Means no." She turned her face from Barbossa's view long enough to grin at the other PotC fans, and then turned back.

Barbossa scowled. "After them!" he snapped at his crew.

The pirates once again swarmed toward the Senshi. "Fire! Fire, Fire, Fire!" Neassa yelled.

Emma flexed her fingers. "PYRO-"

One pair of hands covered Emma's mouth, while a second pair restrained her. Pintel smiled darkly. "Ello, poppet." Ragetti unclamped one hand from Emma's mouth to wave at her before Pintel angrily slapped his hand back. "Quit bein' daft! She's the most dangerous one!"

"FIRE!"

"TWIN SUNS!"

"CRYSTAL FLAME!"

Pintel and Ragetti howled; in surprise at being set on fire again, not at a pain they couldn't feel. "They've all got magicky powers, they do!" Ragetti lamented, fanning the fire on his wooden eye.

"Don't do tha', it'll only make it worse!"

"What possessed Barbossa to hire these baboons?" Sora asked Emma in a bemused tone.

Emma dusted herself off. "They're fun to watch. Maybe he needs some entertainment after a hard day of looting."

The sound of steel being banged together reverberated through the cave. Jack and Barbossa madly clashed swords, lunging and side-stepping. "Jack! Get him!" Sora cheered.

"Huh?" Jack glanced at the Keyblade Master for a split-second, which was just enough time for Barbossa to stab him.

"Nice going," Roxas told his Other dryly.

"You're a fool, Jack Sparrow!" Barbossa chortled.

Jack just stared at the sword that was sticking straight through his chest. He staggered backward into the moonlight, and turned into a skeleton. He examined his hand. "THAT'S interesting." Then, he held up his other hand; the chain of a medallion was entwined around his bony fingers. "I just couldn't resist, mate!"

Barbossa looked around wildly. "Pete! Etoile! Show yourselves! The tide has changed!"

"See? I told ya you'd be needin' us!" Pete and Etoile appeared in two swirls of darkness. Pete whistled loudly, and a glowing-eyed Illuminator Heartless crawled down, then hopped from rock to rock and landed in back of Barbossa. "That's creepy, but it's so cool."

"Yeah, yeah, it's magishical," Etoile droned. "Let's just sit down and watch. Once the babies finish Barbossa, I'm off like a prom dress."

Pete raised an eyebrow. "Now, how can you be sure they're going to finish Barbossa? He's undead!"

Etoile scoffed loudly. "He's über-unimportant; he's a small fry compared to us and Organization XIII."

"Wait, I almost forgot!" Emma grabbed Sora's shoulder. "This would be the perfect time to use Wisdom Form! It's a Drive that you have to do with Donald."

Donald waddled over. "Do you have enough Drive orbs?"

Sora nodded. "Let's go!" Donald evaporated, and Sora's clothes became a dark blue color. He pointed the Monochrome at Barbossa, and shot several rounds of blue fire at him. "Wow! This IS perfect!"

"FIRE!"

"TWIN SUNS!"

"CRYSTAL FLAME!"

Max stretched and yawned. "I'm bored. Because of the curse on those dumb pirates, I haven't gotten to do anything for this entire level."

Dia snapped her fingers. "You're a Blue Mage! Did you ever get hurt by Hades's fire?" Max nodded slowly. "Try using that!"

"I don't think it's going to work, but I'll give it a try." Max twirled the Shamshir, his new saber. His slightly-spiked hair flared up and became flames, and his skin turned red. "Whoa! That's awesome!"

"FLAME ON!" Jake cried.

Max swung the Shamshir, and an inescapable wall of flame floated toward Barbossa. "I love being a Blue Mage! It's a gazillion times cooler than blowing up Gummi ships!"

As the other Senshi busied themselves with defeating the Illuminator, Sora shot one more blue fireball, effectively beating Barbossa. "Yeah, we did it!"

Donald reappeared, shaking. "I don't want to do that again anytime soon."

Pete stood up. "This ain't over!" he whimpered.

Etoile rolled her eyes. "They know that, tardmuffin! You don't have to say it every time we leave!" They disappeared.

Jack rubbed his eyes furiously. "You don't see that every day…right!" He pointed his sword at his former first mate. "Care to surrender, Barbossa?" Barbossa just pointed his sword back at him. "Well, enough of this, then." Jake dropped his sword and pulled out a pistol. "What do you say we call it…a draw?"

Barbossa clicked his tongue. "Jack, how many times do I have to tell ya-" Jack tossed his medallion to Will, and shot Barbossa the moment after.

"Ha! You just wasted your last shot, Jack!"

"Laugh while you can, Barbossa!" Everyone eyed Will, who was holding two bloodstained medallions, his father's and Jack's. He let them fall into the chest with the others.

Barbossa sharply drew a breath, and clutched the place on his chest where the bullet was embedded. Blood quickly soaked the area around that spot, and his hand. "I feel…cold…" he nearly whispered, and died before he even hit the ground.

… … …

"What now, Jack?" Will asked, once they were all outside the cave.

Jack grinned. "Whatever I want, now that the Pearl is mine again."

Will nodded. "That she is. Thank you, Jack."

Elizabeth ran forward. "Will!" Jack opened his arms, but Elizabeth obvious went past him and hugged Will.

"Foreshadowiiiiing!" Neassa declared eerily, wiggling her fingers in the direction of Jack, who was still dejectedly standing with his arms open.

Jack gave her a funny look, but bowed to her and the other Senshi. "It was a pleasure working with you, mates, however limited our time together has been."

Bernie curtsied back. "Pleasure was ours! And I trust you'll remember that favor you owe me when we come back."

"Trust ME? I'm a pirate, luv. I'm dishonest, and a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly." Bernie rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "I'll keep that in mind, at least," Jack assured her.

After Sora opened the next gate via Jack's compass, Elizabeth held out a chain and a piece of parchment. "I found these about the Interceptor. This must be for you, seeing as you've got that large key," She decided, giving Sora the Follow the Wind keychain. "As for this document, it's not addressed to anyone, but I can't make any sense of it. Perhaps you can." She handed the piece of parchment to Emma. "You'll be coming back, won't you?"

"Of course!" Emma put the Tokumei Report in her jeans pocket. "After all the fun we had here, we've got to!"

"Plus, Luxord will be here," Sora whispered.

"They don't know that," Emma whispered back, and made a zipping movement with her thumb and index finger over her mouth. She straightened herself, and the PotC fans saluted Jack again. "See you later, Cap'n Sparrow!"

"You mates can call me Jack," he told them, waving his hand dismissively. "After what I've seen, I deserve no higher respect than you do."

The Senshi turned around and headed back toward the Interceptor for the save point. "Where are we going now?" Dia asked. "We can't go to Agrabah…even if Maleficent could bring Jafar back, Emma wished that he would stay a harmless bunny forever."

"That's stupid," Yami snorted.

Emma ignored the Ino Senshi member. "We're going to the world after it: Halloween Town!"


	7. Christmas in July

"TOKUMEI, TOKUMEI, TOKUMEI!" Jake exclaimed, banging on his seat. The Senshi were all crammed into the Phoenix, as Max was driving them to Halloween Town. "Emma, read the next Tokumei Report!"

Pyro was swinging her legs around beside him. "What's the Tokumei Report?"

The Juu Senshi, excluding Jake, cast worried looks at Tolea, who looked unnaturally pale. "Um…they're like the Ansem Reports," Emma offered. "My dad wrote them…they're about how he was setting up the game prophecy with Dia and Jake's mom and…uh…some other person I don't remember," she lied lamely.

"Prophecy? Oh, Robin told us about that," Sim spoke up. "But only one part. 'Once the real world has been saved, the fighters, now only nine remaining, will reenter the game. Their entrance will create two new enemies, but has created two new allies. Nine more real-worlders will arrive, led by the fighter who was formerly part of the original ten fighters.' Awful descriptive, isn't it?"

Emma nodded. "I guess it is…" She nervously removed the Tokumei Report from her jeans and cleared her throat.

_Taylor and Briara's kid was born around a month ago; Taylor won the name battle, so her name's Lydianne. Now, I hate to sound girly, but Lydianne is a veritable well of pure cuteness. She's got these huge, hazel eyes, and she's got this fuzzy, brown stubble on top of her hair. If I wasn't extremely busy, or worried about my masculinity, I'd be petting her every 5 seconds. At least I haven't said "cootchie-cootchie-coo" yet. I'll get Tolea to shoot me when I do. Anyway, I've got another date with-_

"What?" Angel raised an eyebrow. "Did you say Tolea?"

"Different Tolea," Emma replied stiffly.

"How many people can there be with a name like Tolea?"

"A gazillion and two. Can I continue now?"

_Anyway, I've got another date with Alissa. It was pretty fun, especially since Taylor and Briara weren't there this time. We went to a mall, and basically just ate and shopped. I can do that all the time, but it was better with Alissa._

Emma folded it and put it back in her pocket. "Are we there yet, Max?"

The Phoenix slowed to a stop. "Yep! Hey, I just realized that we're going to need a lot of costumes," Max remarked. "Someone's probably getting a ballerina costume." He laughed and pushed the disembarking button.

… … …

As the Senshi were beamed down, they started examining each other's costumes, and their own. Sora and Emma were still vampires, Donald was still a mummy, and Goofy was still a werewolf with a screw sticking out of his head. "Well, this is lame," Sona grumbled. "It's like Donald's magic just ran out of ideas." Everyone else was just wearing fangs.

"I hate you, Donald's magic!" Pyro declared, shaking her fist at the Victory Bell, Donald's current stave. "You're a lazy bum!" Donald just rolled his eyes.

A white cloth with a glowing, orange nose floated toward them. "Zero!" Sora exclaimed, running forward to pet the ghostly dog. "How've you been, boy?" Zero flew back in the direction from which he came. "We follow him, right?"

Roxas flinched. "We're going to follow a dead, floating dog around?"

"It gets weirder," Dia told him as the Senshi walked into the town square. A large launch pad sat in the middle of it. "Oh, yeah. The sleigh."

"The what?"

Bells rang throughout the town as Jack descended in a coffin with a garbage can attached to it; it served as a sorry attempt at a sleigh. "Sora, Donald, Goofy, Emma!" he cried cheerfully, ignoring everyone he didn't know. "Welcome back, and merry Christmas!"

"Christmas?" The game characters all looked at Emma. Sora looked as if he were on the verge of skipping around like a small girl. "Did you do that, Emma?" he whispered excitedly.

Dia laughed. "No, that's really what happens in this level. Emma just wanted you to be surprised."

Jack made no indication that he had heard what the teenagers had said. "I'm running the show again this year, but I need Sandy Claws's blessing, so I'm off to Christmas Town!"

As the Pumpkin King struck a pose, Sim murmured, "He means Santa Claus," to the game characters.

"Aren't these decorations wonderful?" Jack asked happily, stepping up to the edge of the eerie fountain. "This year, Halloween Town's going to handle Christmas too! But first! We have to visit Sally. She's working on something no self-respecting Santa Claus can do without. Come along, I'll show you!"

"A Halloween Town Christmas?" Sora mused. He glanced around at the spooky surroundings and the disturbing toys that the denizens of Halloween Town were making. Donald and Goofy shuddered.

Riku grinned. "I think it'll be cool. Let's head over to wherever this Sally is."

… … …

"Hello, doctor! Where's Sally?"

Dr. Finklestein was in front of a large book, examining it closely. He opened his head to scratch his brain. "Can't you see that I'm in the middle of an experiment?" he grumbled irritably, and shut his head again. He rolled his wheelchair toward a table which Lock, Shock, and Barrel were on top of, struggling to carry a heavy piece of machinery. Sally walked in, looking at them with a vague sadness.

"Hey, this is way too heavy!" Lock complained.

"Then let's toss it!" Shock suggested.

"You do, and you'll be sorry!" Dr. Finklestein snapped. "Now bring it over here." Lock, Shock, and Barrel dutifully heaved the machinery onto the table. It pulsed with electricity, and then exploded; all that was left was a dense cloud of black smoke. Lock, Shock, and Barrel laughed hysterically and ran out of the lab. "Imbeciles! Now my experiment is ruined!"

Jack approached Sally. "Did you finish it? I want to show my good friends!" He paused and looked behind him at the mass of people; Neassa waved. "Um…well, I don't actually KNOW all of them, but…did you finish it?"

Sally hung her head. "I'm sorry, Jack. I…I need a little bit more time."

"…oh. Well, that's all right. Just as long as it's ready for Christmas!"

"But…Jack…"

"I'd best be off," Jack continued. "I've got to go get Sandy Claws, right away! Wonderful to see you again. Good-bye for now!" He turned and left.

Sora blinked. "Go get Santa Claus…?" he repeated slowly.

"Please, Sora. I'm afraid something terrible will happen if Jack goes through with this," Sally pleaded.

"Sora?" Goofy waved his hand in front of Sora's face, who was staring dumbly into the distance.

"Are those strange-looking fellows in the town square with you?" Jack asked as he reentered the lab.

Sora jumped a little. "Huh? What fellows?"

Jack thought for a moment. "You know, the ones who wanted to spoil Halloween AND Christmas? What are they called again…Heartless?"

"They're definitely not with us," Sora assured him. "But we can get rid of them for you. And then, we can go see Santa!"

Riku chuckled. "You still believe in Santa?"

"Who cares if he does? I do!" Kairi exclaimed defensively.

"So do I!" Jake raised his hand.

Emma materialized the Hikari Sword. "Right now, we've got a little extermination job to do, so this debate has to be put off for a while." The other Senshi took out their weapons and charged out the door, followed by Jack.

When they got back into the square, the two-faced Mayor was being cornered by several Wight Night Heartless, babbling something about only being an elected official. The Heartless were easily defeated, seeing as they were outnumbered ten to twenty-three. Jack sighed heavily. "How is Sandy Claws supposed to relax with all this going on?" He snapped his bony fingers. "That's it, fellows! Sandy Claws needs bodyguards. Are you up to the task?"

Sora nodded exuberantly. "Of course! We'd be honored!"

"Perfect! All right, bodyguards! Christmas Town is this way! The doorway is in the woods just past the graveyard!"

… … …

"Here it is! The door to Christmas Town," Jack declared as he and the Senshi entered the hinterlands. They were standing in a small clearing, surrounding by trees with various holiday symbols that served as doors. "The spooks of Halloween can get so tiresome year after year. I wanted something new. And I found this! Beyond this door is a world filled with wonders…the likes of which you've never seen!"

"I bet we have," Dragon interrupted crossly.

As was expected of him, Jack either ignored her or wasn't paying attention. "As first I couldn't believe my eyes! Everything was so fresh and exciting!"

Sora hopped around impatiently like a toddler who needed to go potty. "C'mon! Just open it!" Jack opened a door that resembled a Christmas tree, and Sora leapt through with a squeal.

"If Sora keeps up like this, I'm going to go insane," Riku grumbled.

"Aw, I think it's cute," Bernie giggled, and jumped through as well. The other Senshi followed soon after, tumbling downwards through blue and white swirls and clusters of snowflakes.

They were spat out on a snowy hill mere seconds later. Sora came out first; however, he didn't have much time to look around, because everyone else promptly landed on him. "Guys, get offa me!" He wriggled out from the bottom and stared at Christmas Town in the distance. "Cooooooooool!"

Roxas peered out as well. "What's this?"

Jake sprang to his feet at Roxas's question. "What's this? What's this? There's color everywhere! What's this? There's white things in the air! What's this? I can't believe my eyes, I must be dreaming, wake up, Jake, this isn't fair! What's this!"

"Thank you, Roxas. Thank you so very much," Yami grumbled sarcastically.

"What's this? What's this? There's something very wrong! What's this? There's people singing songs! What's this? The streets are lined with little creatures laughing, everybody seems so happy, have I possibly gone daffy, what is this? What's this?"

The Senshi got up, and the majority of the real-worlders groaned. "These ain't game mechanics," Robin noted sourly. "We can't just cross one border an' pop over to another; we're gonna hafta walk all that way." She waved her arms at the vast expanse between the Yuletide Hill and Christmas Town itself. "So ah suggest we plug our ears 'til then."

"There's children throwing snowballs instead of throwing heads! They're busy building toys, and absolutely no one's dead! There's frost on every window, oh, I can't believe my eyes! And in my bones I feel the warmth that's coming from inside!"

… … …

"…I want it, oh, I want it, oh, I want it for my own! I've got to know, I've got to know, what is this place that I have found? What…is…THIS?"

There was a clanking noise, followed by a soft thump. Jake had unfortunately made the same mistake as Jack in the movie, and had run straight into the Christmas Town sign. "Nice one," Max laughed and hoisted him back up.

Jake 'hmph'ed and took out the Ikiteiru Shield. "ANIMATE!" Another nearby pole uprooted itself and attacked the one Jake had bumped into.

"Feel better?" Dia asked, brushing the snow off her little brother.

"Mmmyep!" Jake chirped.

Suddenly, a crop of odd-looking Heartless popped up; some Toy Soldiers, some Driller Moles, and a Graveyard. "Y'know, you just reminded me of something, Jake," Dia remarked happily. She waved the Shihaii Wand, and all the Heartless ceased moving. She clucked her tongue disapprovingly. "I don't think our heart-deprived little friends have really gotten into the Christmas spirit."

"It's July," Sim pointed out.

Dia quickly shushed her, and waved the Shihaii Wand like a baton. The Heartless immediately started frolicking around like ballerinas. Grinning, several of the real-worlders started humming 'Waltz of the Sugarplum Fairy'. Emma was not one of them; she was scratching her head and murmuring, "Déjà vu…"

In a grand finale, all the Heartless finished dancing, and finished each other off. "That was marvelous, Sora-Donald-Goofy-and-Emma's friend!" Jack exclaimed, bending down several feet to examine the Shihaii Wand. "Absolutely incredible!"

"It's Dia," she corrected.

Jack squinted. "You can control the Heartless with this staff?"

Dia jerked it back. "No, you can't use it for any experiments," she firmly pre-empted.

Jack sighed. When he looked up, however, he brightened again. "That's where Sandy Claws lives," he declared.

"I want to see Santa!" Sora whooped, and ran toward the house Jack was pointing at.

"From determined Keyblade Master ta giddy li'l kid in one trip," Robin noted. The other Senshi merely nodded and followed Sora in.

A few elves were walking around; Santa was looking over his list. "WHOA!" Sora was grinning so wide that it looked as if his face would snap from the insane degree of stretching.

Riku twitched. "He's real? How can he be real?"

"Only in this world," Robin assured him. "No need ta overheat that spiky mop ya call yer head."

Santa looked up. "Well, hello, everyone. Did you come to see if you're on my 'nice' list?" The Senshi shrugged. "Your names?"

"SORA!" Sora leapt forward, raising his hand.

"Let's see…Sora…Here you are. Well, according to my list, Sora…seven years ago you told everyone you did not believe in Santa Claus…oh, that is unfortunate."

Sora whimpered and put his face in his hands. "Owned," Dragon muttered.

"And the rest of you?" Sandy Claws asked.

Dia laughed nervously. "That's all right, we're probably on the naughty list anyway."

Jack stepped forward. "Am I on your list, too, by any chance? It's me, Jack!"

Sandy Claws cast a dismayed glance in his direction. "Jack Skellington?" A loud smashing sound came from the toy factory, prompting Sandy Claws to start for the door. "What sort of trouble did you bring this time?"

"Last time?" Sora repeated, confused..

"Jack ruined Christmas," Emma explained plainly, and dragged him by the hand as she, Jack, and the other Senshi followed Sandy Claws into the factory.

Maleficent, Lock, Shock, and Barrel were waiting for them inside. "You again?" Riku lamented, taking out the Soul Eater. "We'd be more than happy to kill you twice!" The witch just smirked and disappeared in a wave of darkness. Barrel swung a clamp through the window, breaking it, and he jumped through the hole with Lock and Shock.

"Don't worry, Santa! We'll catch them!" Sora promised triumphantly.

"Emma, ah'm bored outta mah skull," Robin whispered to the elementalist. "Can't ya change somethin'? Jus' one li'l thing ta make ev'rythin' a bit more…not brain-dead?"

Emma sighed and shrugged pathetically. "With great power comes great responsibility. I can't change major plot points just to make things more fun."

"But ev'ry'thin's goin' like clockwork! Ev'ry'thin's exactly the same, 'cept we're here, an' Riku an' Kairi an' Roxas are here, an' Kaze's here, an' Max's here. How long will things be exactly the same?"

"It won't be the same forever, Robin. Like you said, there are a lot of people here that don't belong. We changed the plot. Something tells me that the things I did before will come back to smack us all in the face. Let's just hope it won't be too serious of an issue."

… … …

"This is an extremely serious issue!" Saïx snapped. He and the other remaining members of Organization XIII were gathered in the Castle That Never Was. "Look at how many fighters the Juu Senshi have within their ranks! And look at who they are! They have both quantity and quality! I hope you know what do to about this."

Xemnas crossed his arms and laughed darkly. "We have both quantity and quality as well, you know."

Demyx was sprawled across a chair, waxing his sitar. "What? There's about two dozen of them, and they all fight at the same time. In the game, they can only have three people at a time, and they STILL get us all," he reminded the Superior. "There are only seven of us left, counting Lotrayx, and you always insist on us going one by one. Does that mean we're going to start swarming them?"

"Of course not. We'll just break their spirits."

Axel flinched. "How can you say that so casually?"

Everyone else in the Organization glanced over at him. "I haven't got a clue why you were helping those brats in the real world, Axel, but we're back in the game now," Xigbar told him. "We've gotta off them. They're in our way." Axel nodded numbly. "What were you saying about breaking their spirits?"

"We simply get the real-worlders to leave. With all of the changes to the plot, the game characters won't stand a chance by theirselves."

"And how would we go about getting them to leave?" Luxord asked, lazily shuffling a deck of cards.

Xemnas smirked, an expression made twice as menacing due to his glowing red eyes. "Have any of you ever heard of a man who goes by the pseudonym Tokumei? Or a woman named Briara?"

"Tokumei is the elementalist's father," Xaldin replied. "Briara is the possessor and the animist's mother. What of them?"

Axel was the first one to realize where Xemnas was steering the conversation. "You're going to kill them? They've been separated from their children for eight years! How could you be so-"

"Heartless?" Xemnas mockingly supplied. Axel hung his head. "We are Nobodies. Never forget that. We are mere shells of our Others. Do not mistake your attachment to the Senshi as feelings. You have no feelings. That is why we must open Kingdom Hearts; to regain our own hearts. To regain our feelings. To regain a true life. The Senshi are in our way of doing this, however…they do not wish us to reopen the door. So we must exterminate them. If you truly want to have feelings, you must cast away what you MISTAKE for feelings. Do not allow your judgment to be clouded by what does not exist."

"Yes, Superior," Axel murmured.

Xemnas turned to Lotrayx, who was sitting silently in the corner of the room. "The other members of Organization XIII have been given explicit instructions regarding their job in this endeavor; you, however, have not been with us long enough to have any assignments." Lotrayx only nodded. "I don't suppose I have to explain my intentions to you, but I am putting you in charge of this little spirit-breaking activity. We know not where to find Tokumei or Briara…they may be together, or they may be worlds apart. We do not even know who Tokumei truly is. But I am entrusting you with this task. Do you accept?"

"Something tells me that I don't have a choice, but I accept either way." Lotrayx fluidly got to his feet. "I will search the entire universe for those two. Your trust was not misplaced." He abruptly disappeared.

… … …

Back at the toy factory, the Juu Senshi and Jack were battling Oogie Boogie. "Are you sure about this?" Dia asked tentatively, knocking another toy into the control box.

Sora nodded. "It wouldn't hurt to try, would it?"

Dia sighed and shrugged. "Fine. But if I accidentally leave a finger or two in hyperspace or wherever I'm going, I'll jam my staff through your brain."

"Sounds fair," the Keyblade Master agreed with a shrug. A bright light filled the room; when it had faded, Dia had disappeared, and Sora's clothes had become purple. His Keyblade had modified itself to resemble the Shihaii Wand. Sora grinned at it. "Finally, it's my turn to possess stuff!" He aimed the Shihaii Keyblade at Oogie Boogie. "Now, lackey, I command you to…um…" He scratched his head momentarily before grumbling, "I can't think of anything funny to make him do." Sora got a funny look and his face, and glanced down at his clothes. "What? I've never heard of that. What is it?"

"Is he talking to his shirt?" Jack asked cautiously.

"Ah think Dia's talkin' ta him," Robin offered, although she sounded just as confused.

Sora shrugged again. "If you say so," he murmured apprehensively to Dia. He waved the Shihaii Keyblade like a baton. "Guys, attack him as soon as he comes down. I'll be too busy possessing him."

Oogie Boogie's head jerked to one side. "What's goin' on?" His back straightened unnaturally, and he leapt down from the control box. "I can't move myself! And I can't think straight!" he complained. "OUCH!" A flurry of blows landed on his head; he was powerless to defend himself or to strike back. Suddenly, he grinned widely, an impressive accomplishment for a toothless beanbag. "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas!" he sang in a loud, childish voice. "Only a hippopotamus will do! Don't want no dolls, no dinky tinker toys, I just want a hippo to play with an enjoy!"

Max was the only Senshi not mauling Oogie Boogie; he was standing off to one side, staring at the strange sight, dumbfounded. "How are you doing that? WHY are you doing that?"

Jake giggled as he whacked Oogie Boogie in the face with his shield. "I forgot, Max…you've never seen Sis do this kind of thing, huh?"

"Do you mean she does this often?"

"Yeah, it's like how she controlled those Heartless earlier," Riku explained, taking the Soul Eater out of the boss's gut. "She can take a hold on darkness and manipulate it…or more specifically, people with darkness in them. Dia can possess anything from a Shadow to a Darkside. Since she's Driving with Sora, he can possess things too. At least for the duration of this fight."

"I want a hippopotamus for Christmas! Only a hippopotamus will do! No crocodiles, no rhinoceroses!" Oogie Boogie warbled. "I only like hippopotamuses! And hippopotamuses like me too-ooo!"

Max slashed him with the Shamshir. "So doesn't that mean that Dia can change the plot, too? I mean, by possessing the major antagonists?"

Everyone except Jack paused. "…has Dia ever tried doing that before?" Bernie asked.

"I don't think so," Emma replied slowly. "Maybe she should try that sometime…" One by one, the Senshi resumed their one-sided fight.

"I can see me now on Christmas morning, creeping down the stairs! Oh, what joy and what surprise when I open up my eyes, and see a hippo hero standing there! I want a hippopotamus for Christmas! Only a hippopotamus will do!" Sora dealt the final blow by ramming the Keyblade into Oogie Boogie's side; as bugs came spilling out of him, Oogie Boogie just kept singing. "No crocodiles, no rhinoceroses-es! I only like hippopotamuses-es! And hippopotamuses like me too-oooooooooo!" The last note hung eerily in the air as Oogie Boogie finally deflated, leaving only his cloth behind.

There was another flash; Sora's clothes regained their normal colors, and Dia was standing proudly next to him. "I love Christmastime," she declared.

"It's still July," Sim reminded her.

Dia lightly hit her on the shoulder. "Don't be a wet blanket."

… … …

"TOKUMEI, TOKUMEI, TOKUMEI!" Jake began his chant again as he and the other Senshi were beamed aboard the Phoenix. "Emma, read the next Tokumei Report!"

"Is it just me, or did that world go by really quickly?" Sora pondered, playing around with his new Decisive Pumpkin Keyblade.

"I don't care! TOKUMEI!" Jake roared in Sora's ear, causing him to fall out of his seat.

Dia nodded heartily. "Yeah, this next one should still be about me as a baby! Read it, Emma!" She flung her arms out. "I, Ultima Quinn, command you!" she joked.

"And Bahamut Quinn! RAWR!"

Emma smoothed out the piece of paper Jack had given her before they left. "All right, let's see what my dad said next…"

_Y'know what the downside is of this being a report? I can't see you. I have no idea what you're thinking. So I'll have to give you, dear reader, the benefit of a doubt, because I have no idea whether or not you'll laugh at me. I…ah…I kinda…got married. To Alissa._

"Oh my gosh. I totally did not see that coming," Dia interrupted in a sarcastic monotone. "Who could have foreseen such an unexpected event?"

_I'm going to skip all the details, since you don't care. At least, I hope you don't. This is supposed to be about me preparing for prophecy-related stuff in the real world, not my love life. BACK OFF._

_Briara and I just realized something, though…I think we've been had. Y'know, duped. Bamboozled. We had a massive piece of wool pulled over our eyes. This is what we realized; we were sent into the real world to prepare for the prophecy kids, right? Well, I know I said that I had been busy preparing and stuff, which is why there's a large gap between a few of the entries. I admit, I wasn't preparing. I was too lazy to write anything coherent. We've only had to do a few things here and there. Tolea dropped by from wherever she's been hiding to see Lydianne, and she told us an idea she had while she was visiting; King Mickey is a dirty old pervert. I know, you think she's an idiot, but what she said made sense. Y'know the kids who'll have to enter the game? Well, Tolea was the only one out of the three of us who read the entire prophecy, and she says that all three of the major kids will be of "halved lineage", which Tolea translates as meaning that each kid will have one parent from the real world, and one parent from the game. That's why we were sent to the real world. Briara and me, at least. The prophecy children…they're going to be our respective kids. I can't believe it…it's like Briara and I are hens…our only job in terms of preparing is to have kids, so we can ship them off to fight the Heartless. We're being forced to have kids._

… _okay, I worded that wrong. I really hope Briara doesn't read this. Or any of either of our kids for that matter._

… _I worded that wrong too. Anyway, I don't think King Mickey sent us into the real world just because his mind's in the gutter…which I doubt it is. Not a guy like that. He was just the first one to realize that if the prophecy fighters have to be of halved lineage, well, someone had to be sent out of the game. But I think there was another reason for sending us…I mean, what's Tolea's job? She refuses to tell us, and we haven't got a single clue. I guess we'll find out eventually._

"Well, that was mildly disturbing," Sona mumbled. "I got a very bad mental image of what Mickey would be like if you crossed him with BJ."

"It's show time, babes!" Pyro cried in Mickey's high-pitched voice.

Emma sadly pocketed the report. "I wonder where Dad is…if he's in Radiant Garden, why hasn't he come to see us?"

"Just because he's back in the game doesn't mean that he's in Radiant Garden."

Everyone turned to stare at Tolea. "What?" Robin raised an eyebrow. "Where else would their dad be?"

Tolea looked clearly uncomfortable again, as if she had said something she shouldn't have. "Erm…I mean…maybe he's not necessarily in Radiant Garden. Maybe he's on another world."

"Ivalice!" Emma exclaimed, slamming her fist into her other palm. "If he left with Briara, maybe he's in Ivalice!" She scanned the other Senshi. "You guys were probably looking forward to being animals, but can we skip Pride Rock and go to Ivalice?"

"Please? This is really important to us," begged Dia, sliding out of her seat and onto her knees.

Kaze grinned. "It's fine with me, Ultima-chan!"

"You were serious when you said you'd call me that?"

Roxas held up one hand. "I don't mind."

Max gave Emma, Dia, and Jake a thumbs-up. "I already know what it's like to lose a parent. You guys deserve to go see yours."

"I guess we can be animals some other time," Neassa said with a shrug. The other Ino Senshi nodded.

Sora pointed straight forward. "Max, set us a course for Ivalice! We're going to go find Tokumei and Briara!"


	8. Honor Among Thieves

"I don't see why we have to stay here," Yami grumbled.

The Senshi were walking briskly back to the Shinkatei, the new home of the Nekoshus. "This ain't any 'a our business, lookin' fer Tokumei an' Briara," Robin told him. "Sure, ah bet these guys could use our help, but if things go like they're s'posta, there's gonna be a touchin' family reunion. Let 'em go by theirselves."

Emma smiled, but she was looking rather jittery, as were Dia and Jake. "Thanks, Robin, but we wouldn't mind you guys coming with us."

Robin grinned back and whispered, "Ta be honest, the real reason's that Neassa's cover's gonna be blown sky-high." Emma's eyes widened. "Oh, dun look so surprised. It's pretty obvious she's the same Neassa from the reports."

"And you're not shocked by this?"

The Osakan girl shrugged. "It's kinda funny if ya think 'bout it."

"Who else knows?" Emma asked tentatively.

"The Ino Senshi used ta be a gang. Most 'a us aren't ezzactly geniuses," Robin reasoned.

The Senshi stopped as they approached the gigantic stone gate that served as the entrance and exit to the Shinkatei. "We still get to go to Space Paranoids, right?" Pyro whined.

Dia gave her a thumbs-up. "It's a promise. We just have to take care of this little thing first."

The Juu Senshi stepped onto a nearby save point, and the short green flames glowed a bit. "Wish us luck!" Emma waved, as did the other Juu Senshi, as they were teleported back onto the Phoenix.

… … …

"Where are we?" Sora squinted as the sun blared into his eyes. The Senshi were once again standing in the middle of a crowded marketplace.

"We're back in Muscadet," Bernie declared, watching a large group of vieras pass by. "That's where we were in Lyze's memories."

A blonde boy with an unusually long ponytail ran by, followed by two moogles, a bangaa, a nu mou, a viera, and another human. "Agh! Ritz is gonna kill me for being late again!" the boy exclaimed.

The Senshi exchanged glances. "Ritz? Wasn't she the leader of Lyze and Etoile's clan?" Kairi murmured.

"And wasn't that Clan Nutsy? Y'know, the people they were engaging before Guardian showed up?" Riku asked the real-worlders.

Emma motioned for her allies to follow her as she inconspicuously trailed Clan Nutsy, heading toward a dense forest. "Come on! If they're going to meet up with Clan Ritz, Lyze should be there! And maybe she knows about Tokumei and Briara!"

… … …

"I can't believe you, Marche! You said you'd be here half an hour ago!"

Marche was panting heavily as he and his clan entered a bright clearing in the Koringwood. It was relatively empty; besides Clan Nutsy and Ritz, there was only a small house perched in the branches of the tallest tree. "I'm really sorry, Ritz…the engagement went on for longer than we expected."

Ritz rolled her eyes. "At least we got a little more time to prepare. So, are you ready to start?"

Everyone in Clan Nutsy unsheathed their weapons. "Whenever you are, Ritz!"

"Good." The pink-haired girl briskly snapped her fingers.

"Ritz, we've been over this; we're part rabbit, not part dog." Four vieras walked out onto the porch of the tree house, each clothed intricately. One of them, wearing blue-and-white armor and a fake horn, wore an exasperated expression. "Just because you're the leader doesn't mean that you can snap when you want us."

Ritz crossed her arms. "I thought it'd be cool," she grumbled.

The Juu Senshi watched the scene through a patch of trees, standing as still as statues, apart from their quiet breathing. "Hey, I remember them, too," Emma murmured. "That's the summoner, Aurelie." She glanced at the other vieras. "That sniper is Shara… the elementalist is Darcy…the red mage is Lotte…but where's-"

"LYZE!" Ritz called. "LYZE, GET OUT HERE!"

There was a lengthy pause, followed by a voice complaining, "But I'm TRYING to get out."

"And why can't you?"

"It's not working."

"What isn't working?" Ritz snapped impatiently.

Instead of a reply, there was a dull clicking noise. Tinny-sounding music wafted out of the tree house. "Have you seen the well-to-do, up and down Park Avenue, on that famous thoroughfare? With their noses in the air? High hats and narrow collars, white spats and lots of dollars! Spending every dime for a wonderful time!"

Dia slapped herself in the face. "That wasn't funny the first time, and it's not funny now," she declared. The Senshi who had viewed Lyze's memories all sighed in exasperation; thankfully, they weren't heard over the loud music. Roxas, Kaze, and Max just shrugged at each other.

"Now, if you're blue, and you don't know where to go to, why don't you go where the fashion sits?"

Suddenly, a red blur flew out of the tree house, and landed on the ground, posing triumphantly and holding a golden rapier aloft. "Puttin' on the Ritz!" declared the blur, which had now become a second red mage.

Ritz groaned. "Lyze, don't take this the wrong way, but…YOU'RE AN IDIOT."

Shara, Aurelie, Darcy, and Lotte all leapt down to join Ritz and Lyze. "I-I don't think y-y-you're an idiot, Lyze, b-b-but that got old a wh-while ago," Lotte stuttered.

"Hey, it's tradition!" Lyze reasoned.

A judge in shimmering, silver armor appeared, and blew a whistle. "Begin the engagement!"

The majority of the Senshi focused on the enfolding battle, but Jake was anxiously hopping from foot to foot. "There's trees everywhere, Jake," Sora whispered. "Just pick one."

"I went to the bathroom on the Phoenix!" Jake hissed back. "That's not it! I wanna go find Mommy!"

Emma nodded. "We really should look for our parents soon. I'd rather not postpone the game's plot any more than we have to."

"We can't just barge into the middle of their battle!" Riku disagreed. "What are we going to do, yell 'Hey, you don't know us, but we need to find a self-defensive macho guy and an impulsive criminal! Would you mind dropping everything to help us?' That big judge guy can send anyone he considers a disturbance to jail in a second, right? WELL, THAT'D BE A PRETTY BIG DISTURBANCE!"

Everything was silent for a few seconds; that was precisely how long it took Riku to notice that both clans were staring in his direction. "Yeah, way to disturb them," Max mumbled.

"What was that?" Marche asked, sounding worried.

Ritz warily held up her rapier. "I dunno, but we're going to find out soon enough."

Lyze grabbed Ritz's arm to halt her. "Hold on a second! I know that voice!" She waved her arms around. "Hey, guys! Come on out!" The Juu Senshi exchanged glances, and then decided to step into the clearing. Lyze grinned. "I knew it! I didn't think I'd see you guys so soon, though."

Sora waved weakly. "Yeah…well, we've got some business in Ivalice."

"You know them?" Ritz clarified, lowering her weapon.

"Yeah, they're the ones who got me outta working for Guardian, or as Etoile called him, Table-Butt," Lyze explained.

Aurelie heartily shook Sora and Emma's hands. "Is that so? Thanks a lot!"

Lyze put the Djinn Flyssa away. "So what did you mean by 'business'?"

Emma sighed and scratched her head. "Well…I'm looking for my dad, and Dia and Jake are looking for their mom…it's kinda hard to explain…"

However, Lyze's new expression implied that she required no explanation. "Ritz? Can we call off this engagement for a while?"

Marche nodded to her. "Yeah, Ritz…something tells me that we should butt out of this."

Ritz gestured her approval, and Clan Nutsy left, as did the judge. "Do you want us to leave you guys alone?"

"I'd appreciate it." Clan Ritz also retreated, back into the tree house. Lyze turned back to the Senshi. "Guardian told us about the game prophecy…he also told us what it meant, and that two people were sent into the real world to help it along. Besides, everyone in Ivalice knew about Briara, so it was hard not to hear about her punishment. The news was everywhere."

Jake's eyes lit up. "Does that mean you know where Mommy is?"

Dia sympathetically patted her little brother's shoulder. "Sorry, Jake, but I bet it's unlikely that Mom would be broadcasting her location if she's actually here, what with the Heartless out to get her."

Lyze looked confused. "Er…Briara came back six years ago, actually. She rebuilt her old group, Clan Dorobou, and started engaging people again. They stay in the jagds, though…judges don't go there, and they're the last people that she would want to see. She's still wanted, after all. But I heard a rumor that she left Ivalice again a month or two ago."

The Senshi's jaws dropped. "MOMMY'S HERE?" Jake exclaimed. "SHE'S REALLY HERE?"

Emma grasped Lyze's shoulders tightly. "What about my dad?"

Lyze cast her eyes downward. "Sorry, but I don't know where he is." Emma bit her lip, trying not to show her sadness. "That doesn't mean that he's not here, though. It just means that I don't know where he is. You may want to check Jagd Dorsa. It's in northwestern Ivalice; you just have to head back through Muscadet, past the Roda Volcano and through the Eluut Sands. It's a long ways away, but it's a shorter hike than going to Baguba Port to rent an airship. See, if your dad's anywhere, he'd be with Briara, and if she's still here, she'll be in Jagd Dorsa. You should be careful, though; since there aren't any judges, there's nobody to make sure your opponents don't KILL you."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Killed?" Roxas gulped. "You mean…for good?"

Sora grinned. "Thankfully not. Because Emma's got the Cure Stone, we'll be safe!"

Lyze gave them a wary glance. "But what if she gets killed first?" The Senshi had no response for her. "Look, I know how much you guys want to see your parents again, but you've really got to be careful. Promise me that, okay?"

Emma nodded. "Of course! We'll meet up with you back here when we're done." The Senshi made their way back out of the forest.

"I sure hope they know what they're getting into," Lyze murmured.

… … …

"Gawrsh, it's hot out here!" Goofy commented.

The Senshi were making their way through the Eluut Sands, grumbling to themselves. Donald gave him a weary glare. "What an understatement."

"Watera," Bernie rasped, weakly raising a gloved hand. Water magically appeared to douse her and her allies.

"GAH!" Everyone simultaneously flinched. "That's not just water, Bernie, it's PAINFUL water," Max snapped, rubbing his head. "It's a second-level offensive spell.

Bernie grimaced at him. "My brain melted an hour ago."

"An hour ago, we were still in Christmas Town," Kairi reminded the older girl.

"Fine. It froze an hour ago, then thawed, then melted."

"Can a brain do that?"

"Psh. You and your logic."

Before Bernie had even finished her sentence, a cold wind hit the Senshi, and the sea of sand came to an abrupt stop; all that lay ahead of them was a vast expanse of gray stone slabs, dirt, and what appeared to be a misty, abandoned town. Some corpses were laying on the ground; there were many bodies that could still be distinguished as deceased humans and vieras, but there were also many oddly-shaped skeletons that must have belonged to bangaa or nu mou. "Sis?" Jake quickly shuffled a few steps back as he caught sight of a moogle corpse. "Sis, is this Jagd Dorsa?"

Dia looked around slowly, her expression a mix of terror and disgust. "…yes, Jake. This is Jagd Dorsa."

"But…why would Mommy be somewhere so scary?" he asked, shuddering.

Emma put her hand on his shoulder. "Well, Lyze did say this was the only place where she could hide…"

Jake clung to Dia's arm. "I don't know if I want to meet Mommy anymore," he whispered.

"Don't say that," she murmured. "It's not like she's the one who killed all these guys."

"Dia's right," Emma agreed, advancing to her stepsiblings' side. "We just have to keep on going forward, and we'll find our parents eventually, and they'll be happy to see us again." The three real-worlders nodded and proceeded into the fog, but there was a clear hesitancy in their step. The other Senshi nervously walked behind them into the jagd.

"Y'know, it's not helping that all of the corpses are near the entrance," Riku commented after a few seconds of silence.

Bernie raised an eyebrow. "Why? As we go further, we're further away from the bodies. That's good, isn't it?"

"No, it means that this place is so dangerous that people are being killed as soon as they enter."

Everything was silent again, but this time the general feeling was far more anxious.

"Hey, what's that?" Kaze pointed to a cluster of dusty, wooden shacks up ahead; the faint glow of candlelight was emanating from the largest one. "Do you think that's Clan Dorobou?"

Emma, Dia, and Jake, quickly reached out for each other's sweaty palms. "I don't know who else it would be," Jake answered hoarsely.

"Well…this is it, I guess." Dia took a deep breath. "We're going to see our parents."

"Would you guys mind waiting here?" Emma asked the other Senshi. "You can see Tokumei and Briara later, we don't mind, but we'd rather keep the reunion to just us."

Sora extended his arm toward the lit shack. "We completely understand. Go ahead."

The trio cautiously walked toward it, all of them shivering uncontrollably. "We've fought more than a trillion Heartless, and we're afraid of our own parents," Dia joked awkwardly. "Weird, huh?" Emma and Jake forced out some feeble laughter, trying to fight their fear.

"I'LL HAVE YOUR HEAD ON A SSSTAKE FOR THAT!"

When Emma, Dia, and Jake were not too far from the shack, a man was hurled out of its doorway; he landed on his head with a loud thump. Jake shrieked in surprise, but the man didn't seem to be paying an ounce of attention to him. "Was it really necessary to toss me?" he grumbled, getting up and rubbing his neck.

"YOU'RE LUCKY I DON'T SSSLICCCE YOU OPEN ON THE SSSPOT!" A large, yellowish bangaa stomped outside, his hands balled into fists.

"Touchy, touchy!" The first man dusted off his clothes. "You'd think I'd insulted your mother, or somethin'!"

"CONSSSIDERING ALL SHE'S DONE FOR ME, I REGARD HER WITH AS MUCH RESSSPECT AS I WOULD MY MOTHER!"

"In that case, you're the biggest momma's boy ever."

"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANOTHER WORD OUT OF YOU!"

Emma, Dia, and Jake were now huddled together, watching the events unfold; their fear had mysteriously evaporated, but it had been replaced with severe confusion. "I'm just telling you, the woman may be the best thief in Ivalice, but she's not the smartest!"

"SSSILENCCCE!" the bangaa hissed.

"No way, it's a free country! As I was saying, it's possible that she was wrong about where the kids are!"

"LADY BRIARA IS NEVER WRONG!"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?" Dia exclaimed. The man and the bangaa whipped their heads around to look at her. Emma and Jake immediately shrunk back, but Dia strode up to them. "Did you just say something about Briara?"

The two stared at her for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, the bangaa asked, "What is thisss girl doing here?"

"Don't ask me, I didn't invite her!"

"Did you ssset up an engagement earlier?"

"What, with two teenagers and a little kid?"

Dia puffed out her chest. "My name is Dia Quinn! These two behind me are Jake Quinn and Emma Quinn-Baecker! Jake and I are Briara's children, and Emma is Tokumei's daughter! We want to see our parents!"

The man's eyes widened to an impossible extent. "You're…you're…but she…you…"

The bangaa took off his olive green bandana, held it to his chest, and bowed. "Briara has told usss ssso much about you. Your fight against the Heartlesss is truly noble."

Feeling considerably less troubled about their situation, Emma stepped forward. "There haven't been any Heartless attacks in Ivalice, have there?"

"Oh, of courssse not. But Lady Briara has told usss about what would happen if our beloved country was infected."

"Well, that's good, but…please, where's Briara? And my dad?"

The bangaa scratched his head with a talon. "Lady Briara left for Hollow Bastion sssome time ago," he told her. "She would have gone earlier, but it wouldn't have been sssafe. It was only until a month or ssso back that she was able to rent a Gummi ship…the people she found had a no-questions-asked policccy. She's been traveling the universsse looking for you three. Even though the prophecccy didn't mention anything about whether she could or couldn't, Lady Briara wanted to help you and your allies."

Dia and Jake lowered their eyes. "Oh. So she's not here," Dia mumbled.

"I'm afraid not. And there's no way for usss to contact her ssso she can return and meet you."

"What about Tokumei?" Emma pressed on.

"You keep calling him that… you mussst have found his reportsss. Either way…ah…Lady Briara ssswore me to sssecrecccy."

Emma stomped her foot like a angry kindergartener. "You have to tell me where he is!" she insisted. "I've been waiting to meet him ever since I found out that he was still alive!"

The bangaa raised his hands defensively. "My apologies, but I mussst abide by what Lady Briara sssays. As the leader of Clan Dorobou, I mussst follow her every command."

"You…but…I don't…" the man continued stuttering.

"However, I will asssist you in any other way that I can while you sssstay here. It is the leassst I can do for you. You may call me Sssotel. "

Despite her vexation, Emma shook Sotel's hand, as did Dia and Jake. "It's nice to meet you."

Recovering from his shock, the man also took off his bandana and bowed as Sotel had done earlier. "Loki. My name is Loki." He hurriedly shook the Senshi's hands, and then put his bandana back on.

A few more men, dressed in thief uniforms like Loki and Sotel, emerged from the shack. "What's with all the shouting?" one of them asked, cleaning out his left ear with his index finger.

"Boys, meet three of the prophecccy children!" Sotel declared.

"You're kidding me!" Laughing excitedly, the three other men clambered over each other to see Emma, Dia, and Jake. "I'm Travis!"

"I'm Rockwell!"

"The name's Chaucer!" announced the man who was picking his ear. He held out his hand.

"I gotta respectfully decline," Dia said with a flinch. "No offense to you or your earwax."

"Ah, suit yourself," Chaucer shrugged, sticking his hand in his pocket.

Sotel put his bandana back on. "Do you three have any other businesss in Ivaliccce?"

Emma shook her head sorrowfully. "No…we only came to see our parents. If they're not here, we've got to continue on to another world now."

Loki laid a hand on her shoulder. "You'll see them eventually," he promised. "They just…they just can't see you right now. Briara will come back to Ivalice soon. And Tokumei…I, ah, don't know when you'll be able to meet him, but I swear it'll be soon too."

"Okay." Emma wiped her eyes off with the back of her sleeve. "By the way…Tokumei's a penname, right? What's my dad's real name?"

"Erm…" Loki nervously scratched his nose. "…can't tell you."

Emma groaned. "Why not?"

"You, uh, never know who's watching!" Loki flailed. "If I tell you…who knows who else I'd be telling…y'know?"

Although she was clearly not content with this answer, Emma gave in. "Fine. I won't ask any more questions."

"Sotel and I will escort you to Baguba Port. Since there aren't any save points in Ivalice, you have to go to straight to the Gummi docks," Loki explained.

"No, no…you're probably busy with clan stuff. I'm sure we can get to Baguba by ourselves."

"Don't worry, we haven't got anything else to do. I'm just sorry that we couldn't have helped you more."

"It's not your fault," Emma assured Loki. "You two are just following your clan leader's orders. Even if I don't like the orders, I guess I have to respect them."

Dia nodded. "Actually, I'm surprised that you guys are being so loyal, considering you're a bunch of outlaws."

"Honor among thieves," Sotel declared with a shrug. "Besssides, mossst of usss aren't actually outlaws. We haven't killed or robbed anyone…our only crime is asssisting Lady Briara."

"So you're a thief, but you haven't actually robbed anyone? What kind of a thief are you, if you don't mind my asking?"

"In Ivaliccce, 'thief' merely denotes a class of fighting. You don't necccesssarily have to steal from anyone to be consssidered a thief…but we've each picked a pocket or two, I sssuppose. Money is money, no matter how you get it."

"Can we please go?" Emma asked, anxiously wringing her hands. "I'm sorry, but we really do have to…" Her voice trailed off, and she slowly rotated to look at Loki. He was whistling a song, but he stopped when he noticed that Emma was staring at him. "…what was that?"

Loki tilted his head to one side. "What was what?"

"The whistling."

"Huh? Oh, that…it's nothing."

"It was something," Emma disagreed, with a ferocity that put a look of surprise on everyone's faces.

The man momentarily seemed at a loss for words. "It was just some song…" he murmured, not understanding where Emma was going.

"You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two," Emma declared stiffly.

"What?" Sotel asked, confused.

"Yeah, that's it," Loki confirmed, still slightly weirded-out. "Sotel just reminded me of it when said we've all picked a few pockets. Why?"

"It's a real world song."

Everyone was still. Loki held his breath for a few seconds, then feebly replied, "So it is."

Emma scanned his face. "How do you know that song?"

"I, um…well, y'see…Briara, she, ah…she told me. About the song," Loki managed, groping around for the right words. "She liked it. I, uh…Tokumei liked it too. They…they told me."

After firmly holding his gaze for a few more seconds, Emma lowered her eyes to the ground. "We'd better head for Baguba Port now." She shuffled away, toward Dia and Jake.

Smirking, Chaucer popped up beside a very pale Loki. "Hey, correct me if I'm wrong, but did you just get chewed out by a little girl?" Chaucer only had time to blink before Loki had him in a headlock, and was brandishing a knife. "Er, y'know…y'know I'm j-just kidding, right, Loki, ol' b-b-buddy, ol 'pal?" he stammered.

Loki snorted and released his fellow bandit. "Emma's right. We'd better head out now."

Emma, Dia, Jake, Loki, and Sotel walked off toward the entrance to Jagd Dorsa, the real-worlders lagging behind a yard or two. "What got into you, Emma?" Dia whispered, lightly whacking her. "That was pretty freaky."

"You mean you weren't thinking it too?"

"Man, I don't think I've EVER thought whatever you were thinking! You were interrogating some guy we barely know because he was whistling a song from a real-world musical!"

"But don't you think it's a little weird that he knew it?"

"Mom and Tokumei told him about it!"

"Why would they?"

"They liked it!"

"But why would it-"

"FOR PETE'S SAKES, EMMA, DROP IT!" Dia snapped. Emma and Jake blinked at her; even Loki and Sotel stopped walking to look. "Sorry. But I know why you're doing this, and you shouldn't. Just because he got all twitchy when you mentioned Tokumei doesn't mean he IS Tokumei. You're reading way too much into everything. So please, cut the paranoia and-" Dia suddenly paused, and glanced around suspiciously.

Jake poked her elbow. "Sis, what is it?"

"This is getting really freaky," she murmured.

Emma glanced around as well. "Do you see something?"

"Recently, all the time we've been in the game, there's been this smell."

"A smell?"

"Yeah. I don't know how to describe it. But in all the worlds we've been to, I've smelled it. Except for Ivalice. I haven't been smelling it here…until now."

Jake inhaled deeply. "Doesn't smell any different to me," he decided.

Emma also took a deep breath and shook her head. "I don't smell anything either. Other than what we've been smelling for the past few hours, anyway."

"Yeah, I didn't expect that you guys would be able to smell it. What's been in every world that we've traveled to that isn't in Ivalice right now?"

Jake thought about it, and squealed, "Oh, oh, oh! The Heartless!"

Dia nodded. "Exactly. I think the smell is darkness. And if it's darkness, that means two things. One, that Maleficent, Pete, and Etoile have found us. And two…"

"…that something's happening with your powers," Emma finished.

Dia nodded again, this time with a bit more solemnity. "When we came into the game, I could just make the baddies sing and dance, but then I learned how to control Heartless…and now I can smell darkness. It's like my abilities are evolving or something."

"Evolving? Like Pokemon?" Jake clarified.

"Honestly, I'm getting a tad scared. I'm happy that I'm gaining more powers, but I don't know if I want to have any more powers related to the Heartless," Dia continued, ignoring the boy. "I've been thinking…if they keep piling up like this, don't you think that the Heartless or the Nobodies might want to get me? I'd either be a huge threat or a huge asset…not to sound egotistical or anything."

"Hey, we're almost halfway through the game, and we've managed to keep Riku and Roxas safe, right? If we can do that, I bet we can keep you safe too," Emma assured her. "Wait, scratch that. We can DEFINITELY keep you safe. I mean, you're my best friend, not to mention my stepsister."

"And my big sister!" Jake exclaimed, jumping up and down.

"We'd never forgive ourselves if something happened to you." Dia grinned. "Besides, it's not like you're a helpless little kitten. You're a Senshi!"

Dia heaved a large sigh and rubbed her chin with the back of her hand. "Thanks, guys."

"Is everything okay?" Loki called. "If you kids want to get out of here by nightfall, we'd better hurry up!"

"Yeah, we're fine!" Emma called back. "But just out of curiosity, what happens at nightfall?"

For a few moments, nobody spoke. "Nevermind!" Loki dismissed.

Exchanging expressions of anxiety, the real-worlders moved to catch up with him and Sotel. "I guess we'd better prepare ourselves for another boss battle," Dia grumbled.

"And for seeing the other guys again…we've got a whole lot of explaining to do."


	9. Steadfast Tin Soldiers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back to CC3! I'm sure you're all very surprised to see this update. So am I. Here's the thing: the first chapter of the original Cheat Code was published to Fanfiction.net on March 10th, 2005. It was my gateway into writing. It gave me a precious opportunity to practice, as well as plenty of encouragement and critique. Now I'm getting ready to graduate from the University of Michigan with a degree in film production and a sub-concentration in screenwriting, and a lot of thanks is due to the Cheat Code series.
> 
> I have hazy plans for the series, but I won't make any promises. Lord knows I've broken them before. I just have one thing to say: happy 10 year anniversary, folks.

The Senshi stumbled through the last stretch of Lutia Pass. Jake snored lightly from atop Dia's back. Both Sora and Roxas roughly propelled themselves along by using their Keyblades as walking sticks. Sotel crouched by the edge of a dusty cliff and gestured off into the distance with a talon. “That'sss Baguba down there,” he said.

Baguba Port loomed in the distance, a cluster of green and turquoise tinted slabs and staircases. A creaky wooden airship rose out of a shimmering garage and whirred melodically as it took to the skies.

Bernie dabbed at her forehead with the sleeve of her jacket, which had been tied around her neck since Roda. “So let me get this straight. Once we get to Baguba, we can beam back up to the Phoenix, then fly back to Radiant Garden?”

“That's the plan,” Emma murmured, watching the ascent of a creaky wooden airship. “Let's just hope it's as simple as it sounds.”

“I can still smell darkness in this world,” Dia reminded her. “If Maleficent hasn't struck already, she must be planning something big.”

“What else is new?” Riku grumbled.

A slender green hand curved around Riku's shoulder, pinching his skin with bright pink fingernails. “My, my, such hostility,” Maleficent purred. “Surely your time spent with the darkness was not entirely bad.”

The Senshi sprang back violently, materializing their weapons. Dia accidentally dropped Jake onto a rock in her haste to grab the Shihaii Wand. “Oww! Watch it, Sis!” Jake mewled, rubbing the welt already forming on his head. As soon as he made eye contact with Maleficent, he summoned the Ikiteiru Shield and curled up behind it. “You stay over there! Or I'll jump on your back again!”

“What are you doing back here?” Emma asked, her fingers coiled around her necklace as a warning.

Maleficent laid her golden scepter among the pebbles at her feet. “Come, I trust you all have the capacity for reason. We have quite the matter to discuss.” The Senshi lowered their weapons, but tightened their defensive stances all the more. “There we are.”

Loki shook as he limply returned his knife to its sheath. “Who the holy heck is this?”

Emma paused, having momentarily forgotten about the two Clan Dorobou members accompanying them. “Maleficent controls the Heartless. Or thinks she does, at least.” She stepped closer to Maleficent and crossed her arms. “Don't you have a war you should be preparing in Hollow Bastion?”

The witch steepled her fingers, smiling grimly. “A doomed war where I lose control of the Heartless to a party of empty husks? I think not.” The real-worlders exchanged surprised expressions. “Oh yes, I know about the Battle of a Thousand Heartless. And with that forewarning, I do not care to make a fool of myself.”

“So what, you thought you'd lay low in Ivalice?”

“As if I would run from defeat,” Maleficent scoffed. “No, I came to petition the prophecy children.”

Emma extended a hand to Jake and hauled him up to his feet. “You want us to change the War Sequence so that the Nobodies lose?”

Maleficent polished her ring against her dark robes with an obnoxious mask of innocence. “They are the greater of two evils, are they not?”

“She must be desperate if she called Xemnas greater,” Riku snickered.

“The matter is clear as day,” Maleficent continued, willling herself not to backhand her former minion. “When Organization XIII takes control of the Heartless, they will have all the fodder they could ever need to fill up their false Kingdom Hearts.”

“Not a problem,” Emma said. “They still go down in the end. Besides, who even told you about the War Sequence?”

Maleficent smirked and summoned her scepter back to her hand with a flourish of darkness. “A lovely man named Aldwyndain. He tried to chase me out of Hollow Bastion with threats pertaining to my ill fate.”

“Why didn't you just bend over and pick up your staff by hand?” Bernie asked.

“The mistress of all evil does not bend over,” Maleficent snapped. Jake giggled quietly into the back of his hand. “Now listen well, prophecy children. I bear tasks for all three of you. Should you accept, you may be able to bypass a great deal of suffering.”

“Is that a threat?” Sora asked.

“I refer to the suffering of the entire universe. Every last soul in the game. Follow my instructions, and Organization XIII will fall as soon as tonight.”

Emma took a deep breath as she stepped closer to Maleficent. “How do we know we can trust you?

“You've played the game. You know that I help return Sora, Donald, and Goofy to their Gummi ship after the Battle of 1000 Heartless, and that I help them fight in the World That Never Was. Kingdom Hearts II provides me with an excellent track record. Follow me, and I will show you what we stand to gain.”

“We're going to Hollow Bastion,” Jake insisted. “We need to find Mommy.”

Maleficent's eyes glinted, and she bowed her head. “That is fortunate indeed, as Hollow Bastion was the destination I had in mind. In fact, your meeting Briara may help spur my little plan along.”

Loki hesitantly raised a hand. “Hey, guys? Crazy suggestion, but maybe we shouldn't believe the neon green witch.”

“Don't judge someone based on the color of their skin,” Bernie admonished. Loki rolled his eyes.

Dia grabbed Emma's shoulder and pulled her back by a few steps. “This plan sounds sketchy as heck. We need to watch our backs.”

Emma smiled confidently at her step-sister. “We will. But we can at least finish hearing Maleficent out.”

With a swoop of her robes, Maleficent opened a dark corridor. Inky black wisps wafted out of the dust, braiding together and then snaking away. “I appreciate the trust, even temporarily,” she said. “Now...shall we?”

“Sssorry, but this is as far asss we go,” Sotel murmured, glaring at Loki. “This is no matter of ours.”

Emma nodded. “You're right. This is for us to deal with. Take care of yourselves, alright?” She turned back to Maleficent. “Now...let's get to Hollow Bastion.”

… … … 

Maleficent and the Senshi reappeared in Ansem's study amidst scattered books and broken glass. “You had all intended to go to Space Paranoids, correct?” Maleficent asked. “Do you remember why you went there?”

Emma ran her hand along the dappled marble panels on the wall, dusty and cracked from years of neglect and abuse. “Yeah, the Restoration Committee wanted to access King Ansem's research on darkness, and hopefully Organization XIII.”

“They need the DTD to access the data, and you have to go and open it from Dataspace,” Dia continued. “But the files get corrupted anyway. You don't get to read them until way later in the game.”

Maleficent peered down at Jake, who immediately backed away. “That is where I need the little animist. He can communicate with Ansem's computer, and unlock information I dearly need. I am sure it will be of use to you as well.”

Jake summoned the Ikiteiru Shield again, as Emma found the secret panel to unlock the computer room, just as she had seen Leon do in the game. “So you want us to skip past both sections of Space Paranoids?” Jake asked.

Beams of light outlined a section of the wall, which faded to white and then disappeared. Maleficent swept past the Senshi, through the dim hallway of chrome and glass. Over her shoulder, she called, “Not 'skip', rather accelerate. Whatever Sora would have done to restore the data from the inside, tell the machine to work things out on its own. That way we can read it before the war.”

Emma stopped short before following Maleficent and turned to the rest of the party. “Roxas, Max, Kaze? Can you go to the Shinkatei and update the Ino Senshi?” Emma asked tensely. “They could use extra hands before the upcoming fight.”

Bernie crackled her knuckles. “I'll go with them. I've done way too much standing around.”

Emma's voice dropped down to a hush as she whispered, “To be honest, I really just want more of us on the outside in case Maleficent tries something funny.”

“We know,” Roxas assured her. “We've got it.” The four Senshi saluted and exited the study. Emma, Dia, Jake, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Riku, and Kairi were left to follow Maleficent into the computer room.

Jake flitted over to the computer console, his cherubic face illuminated by the bright green old-school readouts. “Remember, Jake, don't bang on the keyboard,” Emma called. “That's how the MCP arrests Sora, Donald, and Goofy.”

“I've got a lot more finapse than Donald's big feet,” Jake laughed.

“It's 'finesse'. And what's wrong with my feet?” Donald squawked.

Jake pressed his fingers against the screen instead, and closed his eyes. “Animate!” He paused, listening. “Hi, Tron! I'm a User. Can you help me with something?”

Maleficent chuckled and folded her hands together. “What a helpful boy. While he takes care of that, I have another task for another child. Oh, possessor?”

Dia slipped her sunglasses on with a smirk. “What, hankering for a sing-a-long?”

“Nonsense. I will not have you manipulate me into performing show tunes,” Maleficent sighed. “I have a far grander task for you. You can now control Heartless, can you not? How many have you wielded at once?”

“If we're talking Shadows, a few dozen, but I also sicced several bosses on Guardian.”

“How do you feel about commanding an army?”

“What, like a hundred?”

“I was thinking...a thousand.”

The Senshi, even Jake, stopped what they were doing and turned around. Dia flipped her sunglasses back atop her forehead and peered intensely at Maleficent. “You want me...” she rasped, “...to control one thousand Heartless at once?”

Maleficent preened herself, trying to downplay the request by brushing a few specks of nonexistent dust off her shoulders. “Surely the great Dia Quinn can find it in herself to order some lowly creatures around.”

Dia threw her hands up in the air and yelled, “There's a massive difference between 'can' and 'will'! There's got to be some massive catch here.”

Kairi thoughtfully tapped a finger against her chin. “Think about it this way: if destroying Heartless with the Keyblade means collecting hearts, that means we'd be helping Organization XIII fill up Kingdom Hearts. But if we leave them alone, they'll hurt people. The only safe option is to control them!”

“Whoa, whoa! That's not as safe as it sounds,” Riku said.

“And it don't sound all that safe to start with,” Goofy murmured.

Riku quickly shuffled between Maleficent and Dia. “Look, the more you play around with darkness, the more it plays you. Controlling a thousand Heartless could damage your heart beyond repair!”

Maleficent brushed Riku aside with the head of her scepter. “She shall not fight alone. You have experience with the darkness, so you may help shoulder her burden.”

“I bet Eclipse and Kaze would help too!” Emma pointed out. “They can be, like...surge protectors.”

Dia passed the Shihaii Wand back and forth between her hands, weighing her options. “Huh. If all three of you guys promise to back me up, then...” Suddenly, a wide grin burst across her face. “...this could be a lot of fun!”

Riku scowled, but Dia's resolve was far too much to argue with. He groaned and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah. Okay. I'm game if you are.”

“Guys, look!” Jake chirped, proudly gesturing to the computer terminal. A flurry of multicolored boxes popped onto the monitor, bearing various checks and crosses to denote category and importance. “What do we hafta look up?”

Maleficent glid over to the computer and examined the files in triumph. She then ruffled Jake's hair, which he gladly accepted. Emma and Dia, on the other hand, looked profoundly troubled. “Excellent, young animist. King Ansem no doubt houses a treasure trove of information on this device, but I am especially intrigued by the nature of Kingdom Hearts.”

“I knew it!” Sora yelled. “You just want to control all of the worlds, don't you!”

“I would indeed relish such a trophy. Alas, Keyblade Master...I meant the game.”

Jake wriggled out from under Maleficent's grasp. “Really? We can tell you a whole lot about the games.”

Maleficent tapped a few keys, sifting through information. “No doubt. But how much do you know about THE game? This peculiar dimension in which we now stand?” The palpable silence which ensues brought her another pleased sneer. “Vitality is measured in indescribable units of so-called 'hit points.' New powers are acquired through 'level ups'. Enemies drop currency, despite having no need of it themselves. Have you ever met a capitalist Heartless? I think not.”

“Get to the point,” Donald grumbled.

Maleficent turned away from the computer to smile eerily at the Senshi. “In short, we are all playthings, governed by a strict set of rules. Rules can always be broken, yes, but nevertheless they stand. So who created these rules, and why?”

“Tetsuya Nomura,” Emma quipped.

“Did he really?” asked Maleficent. “Did a real-worlder really generate an entire universe? One that can fit on a shiny plastic disc? Would such a talented sorcerer craft entire worlds and souls for a pretty penny?”

Emma approached the computer terminal like it was a live bomb, but she just had to see what Maleficent had pulled up. “That's fair,” Emma admitted. “So Ansem found out who DID create the game?”

“Oh, yes. You must know that he and King Mickey had a hand in triggering the prophecy that led to you and your friends entering the game,” Maleficent explained. “He received a tutorial on how to travel between dimensions from the makers themselves. He couldn't have sent Tokumei, Briara, and Tolea into the real world otherwise.”

“Tokumei? You know my dad?” Emma screeched.

Maleficent clicked on a few more files. “All in good time,” she said. “Do you know about a game called Dissidia Final Fantasy?”

Emma shook her head. “Not really. I mean, I know it's a fighting game, but that's it. It doesn't come out until 2009.”

“What year is it currently in the real world?”

“It's 2008.”

“Interesting. Well, here is a sneak preview.” Maleficent pulled up two photographs: one of a hauntingly beautiful blonde woman in a flowing white gown, another of a fiery and well-muscled demon with gnarled horns and claws. Emma scanned the paragraph beneath the pictures as Maleficent spoke. “The maiden is Cosmos, goddess of harmony. The fiend is Chaos, god of discord. The two are locked in an eternal fight over who will gain supremacy over the universe. Of course they must confine their conflict to an established battleground, else their war would rend apart their prize before either could claim it.” Just then, Emma froze in horror as she finished the paragraph, and rapidly reread it several times to confirm. “Each deity selects their own champions, and whichever team emerges victorious wins the universe.”

Sora pumped his fist, over-excitable as always. “That sounds so cool! I would definitely play that game.”

“You already are,” Emma whispered.

“What was that?” he asked.

Emma stepped away from the screen, first enlarging the paragraph so that the rest of the Senshi could read it from afar. “You're already playing Dissidia, Sora. We all are. Cosmos and Chaos are real, and the universe they're fighting over is the real world. Their battleground is Kingdom Hearts.”


End file.
